


The Strangers You Meet

by GoldenEmpire



Series: The Space Series [3]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Abduction, Abuse, Action, Adventure, Aftercare, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Anal Sex, Angst, Animal Characteristics, Anxiety, Arrested, Assassination attempts, Assassins, Bail, Bath Sex, Betrayal, Bets, Blowjobs, Childhood Rivals, Clones, Comfort, Confessions, Crimes & Criminals, Crushes, Crying, Cuddling, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dark, Dark Past, Death, Denial, Depression, Dirty Talk, Drug Abuse, Drugs, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Kissing, Drunkenness, Dubious Consent, Enemies, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Evacuation, Extremely Dubious Consent, Falling In Love, False Identity, Festivals, Fingering, First Crush, First Kiss, First Meeting, First Time, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Fugitives, Getting Together, Girl Panties, Hugs, Human Trafficking, Hurt/Comfort, Janitor - Freeform, Jealousy, Kissing Dare, Lace Panties, Loneliness, Loss of Virginity, Love Confessions, M/M, Masturbation, Memory Erasers, Memory Related, Mentions of Rape, Mentions of past abuse, Mildly Dubious Consent, Morning After, Multiple Orgasms, Murder attempt, NSFW, Neck Kissing, Nightclub, No Touching, PTSD, Panic Attacks, Panties, Pining, Pole Dancing, Praise Kink, Prison, Re-assurance, Rejection, Rimming, Rivals, Romance, Rough Sex, Roughness, Royalty, Sci-Fi, Secret Crush, Self-Esteem, Sex, Sex Work, Sexual Inexperience, Shapeshifting, Sharing a Bed, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smut, Stranded, Strippers, Stripping, Suicide Attempt, Tension, Threats, Tree Houses, Truth or Dare, Underage - Freeform, Unrequited Crush, Witness Protection, Worldbuilding, Wounds, boys in panties, cross-dressing, dark themes, death of parents, dub con, foster brothers - Freeform, fostering, happy endings, heat - Freeform, kidnap, love to hate, nightclubs, secret virgin, strip club, traumatic past, very angsty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2019-01-03
Packaged: 2019-07-12 04:53:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 85,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15988040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoldenEmpire/pseuds/GoldenEmpire
Summary: Kai is a young, beautiful stripper in a dirty club in the midst of the lawless planet Rum.Fyn is alone and insecure, running away from the police and from his past. He soon becomes part of a peculiar crew with a bizarre occupation.Tallin, the heir to the throne of Fayaxiamen, is forced to take on a new identity when his family is usurped, and escapes to a little village on an alien planetTwo assassins hunt him, both wanting to best the other one last time.Full of smut, aliens, romance, angst, adventure and everything in between.Take a look?THIS IS A SEQUEL TO 'THE ALIENS YOU MEET' AND 'THE LOVERS YOU MEET' BUT CAN BE READ AS A STANDALONE :)





	1. When Kai met Chi

**__ **

**_18 th Xi 1168 _ **

**_Rum._ **

_“No!” the little Zalian boy screamed, trying to force his wrist out of the grip of the big, scary man that was dragging him down the dirty streets of a planet that was alien to the boy – everything was grey, wet and scary. It was late, and out of the foggy, rainy darkness came blurry lights signifying where the shops and markets were. The Zalian boy fought harder, trying to escape towards those lights but he was only small, not even ten yet, and the big man was...well, big. Big and terrifying._

_He knew he shouldn’t have run away from the ship that was taking him to the ‘sanctuary,’ but Kaio Muji hadn’t seen another option. He came from Fealo, a huge war torn planet from the Eon Galaxy that for several years now has been bitterly fighting multiple planets from the Cairn Galaxy. Cairn had always seemed so far away to Kaio, a different world with different planets that had hard to pronounce names. The Zalian’s had started the war, when they had come down on Arossa to attempt to usurp King Rian, but they couldn’t seem to end it. And now Kaio was here, in the Cairn Galaxy itself, where he was hated. His parents had been killed months ago in one of the many violent explosions that littered his neighbourhood, and people had come and loaded him on a ship full of trembling orphans and took him away and..._

_And he had ran. The moment that ship touched down on this planet to replenish fuel, Kaio had slipped away into the rain. He didn’t want to go to a home with those children...though now he would give anything to be back with them. A sob built up in Kai’s throat, “Please,” he croaked in his language, “I-I’m sorry, I-I’ll be g-good just l-let me go...”_

_But the man either didn’t understand him or didn’t hear him as he continued to pull Kai along as if he were a rag doll. The boy helplessly struggled in his grip and tried to shape-shift into someone else, someone big and strong, but he wasn’t very good at it yet and all he could do was continuously change his hair colour as he panicked. He was so terrified. Zalians were good Shapeshifters, but Kai was too little, he didn’t know all the rules, nobody had taught him. He saw dangerous faces peeking at him from the shadows, but nobody moved to help him. He was on some hellish planet, full of smoke and darkness, with grey buildings rising up around him and dozens of bizarre markets strewn around despite the rain. Spaceships cut through the night sky._

_A building emerged from the darkness, its outline visible in the night with its windows glowing golden like the eyes of a monster. It had four stories and appeared to be made of wood and metal and everything in between, thrown together haphazardly to make an ugly structure. Above the door a neon sign proclaimed ‘THE THIRTEEN FRAGMENTS’ and flashed in multiple languages, though none of them were Zalian so Kaio didn’t know what the establishment was called even as the man who had taken him headed right for it. Dread settled in the boy’s stomach as he returned to his normal appearance – pale skin, bright blue eyes red from crying, flushed cheeks, aquamarine hair plastered to his wet face. The rain beat down on him and the boy cried as his kidnapper pulled him over the threshold of the building._

_Inside it was chaos. The dark, smoky interior stank of bitterness and drugs as creatures sat hunched in circular booths. Loud music blared from everywhere, making the floor tremble. Kaio’s eyes opened wide in awe as multi-coloured lights flashed through the darkness. He was thoroughly overwhelmed and allowed his kidnapper to pull him through, finally giving up the fight. He felt eyes looking greedily at him from the shadows of the booths and it made him shudder. He had never seen so many different creatures in one place before – some were big and grey and terrifying, others lithe and floating above their seats._

_Suddenly his kidnapper pulled him aside and they slipped between two booths. The next thing Kaio knew was that they were hurrying down a cold, metal corridor, the walls trembling from the loudness of the club music._

_“Where are we going?” he asked his kidnapper helplessly, but got no reply. His head spun, he was exhausted and scared – he just wanted to fall asleep and pretend this whole thing was a dream. The kidnapper stopped him from doing so as he veered off to the left and knocked on a steel door. A gruff voice replied from the other side and Kaio’s kidnapper pushed the door open before shoving Kaio inside._

_The moment the kidnapper closed the door behind them the loud sound of the nightclub shut off. It was as if the world ceased to exist. Kaio trembled and curled in on himself, intimidated. He was standing in what appeared to be an office with holograms of paperwork and auctions filling the walls – numbers and letters the boy couldn’t understand. The only furniture in the room was a smooth desk and a big chair in which sat...a small man. Kaio blinked. ‘Man’ probably wasn’t the word for this creature; he couldn’t have been taller than three feet with deep red skin rigged like the back of a dragon. On his head he wore a green scarf that was almost as big as him, and his eyes were hidden behind huge, tinted glasses._

_“Well, well, well,” the man surprised Kaio by speaking in perfect Zalian, “What have we here?”_

_The child cowered away and his kidnapper said something grumpily to the man. In response the man sighed and swiped his hand, and on the wall the screens shifted and a green light appeared – payment for Kaio. The kidnapper nodded and turned away and Kai had the urge to grab him and stay close to him; he didn’t want to be alone in this peculiar place and the kidnapper was the only thing relatively familiar. But alas the kidnapper slipped out of the room, the door closing behind him. Kai swallowed and anxiously turned to the red-skinned man._

_“Don’t be afraid,” the man said, baring his sharp teeth at Kaio in a smile that made his skin crawl, “My name is Tuvian, but you may call me Mr T.”_

_“W-What is this place?” Kai asked, lower lip trembling, “I want to go home.”_

_“But you are home,” Mr T spread his arms in a falsely welcoming gesture, “This is the Thirteen Fragments, a nightclub as you can tell, the best one on Neon Street...maybe even in all of Rum.”_

_“I don’t want to be here,” Kai whimpered and backed up against the door. Mr T didn’t seem to care that the boy was scared._

_“Listen, little boy,” he said, “You belong to me now; I bought you. See, this nightclub will soon become more – I want this to be a dancing club. You understand?”_

_Kaio didn’t understand, “D-Dancing?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“But there’s no dancers...,” Kaio whispered._

_Mr T smiled, “Not yet, but you are perfect. Zalian, isn’t it? You can shapeshift.”_

_“I’m not very good at it,” Kai mumbled. Mr T seemed unbothered._

_“We’ll train you, don’t worry boy. What is your name?”_

_“K-Kaio.”_

_“Kaio,” Mr T’s smile widened, “You’re going to dance for me, alright? And then you’re going to let people fuck you.”_

_Kai’s eyes widened and his face blanched, “W-What?”_

_“I’ll pay you, of course,” Mr T said casually, “So that one day you can buy yourself out of here, get a nice house or a nice ship...but until then, well...”_

_Kai’s eyes filled with tears as terror gripped him, “I-I don’t w-w-wanna...”_

_Mr T’s voice was calm and raspy, “I don’t care what you want. Feel free to run, out there on the streets of Rum you won’t last alone for long. Someone will pick you up and fuck you in an alley and slit your throat, maybe fuck your corpse after too...,” Kai wanted to be sick, “But here; I’m offering a roof over your head, food, money, all for the small price of dancing and fucking. Everybody does it, Kaio, sooner or later – dance and fuck, it’s easy.”_

_Kai swallowed. He didn’t know much about sex but Mr T made it sound easy, and crude. The boy just stood there, dripping water all over the carpet. Mr T sighed, disappointed by his lack of enthusiasm and turned to another door behind his desk._

_“Come on in, children!” he called._

_The door opened and out came...well, children. Kai tried to back up more but there was nowhere left for him to go so he watched as ten kids came and stood in a neat line in front of the desk. The oldest ones looked about fourteen, two boys – one looked sleepy and reminded Kai of a lion while the other one towered over the rest. Kai found his paper-white skin and pointed ears peculiar. There was a younger boy with yellow skin and writhing tentacles instead of legs. Kai stared at the boy glared at him._

_“What the hell are you looking at?” he demanded and Kai quickly looked away. The other kids were all species Kai didn’t know – one girl had red skin and was tiny, another was floating in the air while another boy was more fish than anything else. They scared Kai._

_“These are my dancers, Kaio,” Mr T said in Zalian, “they have been here for some years and I am still training them. I want one of each species if I can and a Zalian...you are a rarity. You could change into anybody a client wanted. You would make me so much money.”_

_Kaio started crying violently, fear washing over him. He just wanted his mother._

_The tall boy with the pointed ears came out of the line and knelt in front of Kai. His eyes were hazel and soft, a gentle, kind smile on his face._

_“Hello,” he said in Faso. Kai swallowed and tried to understand what the boy was saying – thankfully he made it pretty clear as he put a hand to his own chest and slowly said, “Sahachi.”_

_Kaio looked at him, “Sahachi,” he mumbled, the word awkward and heavily accented. Sahachi laughed good-heartedly, which made Kai crack a smile. His presence was calming._

_“Chi,” Sahachi said, pointing at himself again. Kaio nodded._

_“Chi,” he liked that better. He wiped his wet cheeks on his sleeve and pointed to himself, “Kaio.”_

_“Kaio,” Chi smiled._

_“Kai,” Kaio grinned. Chi nodded._

_“Kai.”_

**_2 nd Duagharrd 1178 (10 years later)_ **

**_Fayaxiamen._ **

_Tallin had never run so fast in his life; his legs ached and his lungs burned but whenever he stopped one of the four adults would grab his hand and urge him along._ This is ridiculous, _the almost-seventeen year old Prince thought as he sprinted through the palace gardens in the darkness of the night,_ We are the royal family, we should stand our ground.

_“Tallin!” his mother rounded back and grabbed his hand, her red hair glimmering in the moonlight, “Come on, we must hurry!”_

_From the palace at their backs came wild shouts and screams as the coup grew in power._

_“Vallea!” Tallin’s father looked over his shoulder, “Come! Run!”_

_Tallin allowed his mother to drag him with her. Normally she was relaxed and composed but now her beautiful face was twisted in fear. She reached her hand out to Zea, her lover, and grasped her silver fingers as they ran._

_Earlier that night, Princess Rozene Moringathu, the youngest of the Moringathu siblings, had started a coup. Backed by hundreds of soldiers and citizens who agreed with her extremist political stance to completely destroy Fealo the woman had stormed the castle and announced herself as the new Queen while King Thrisan was forced to flee with his family. They were being pursued; Tallin had barely made it out of his room as Wyliam, his father’s ‘husband,’ had barged in and feverishly got him somewhat dressed before pulling him out into the corridor. Rozene’s soldiers had already been partially up the stairs but Tallin and Wyl managed to get to the King, Queen and Zea. Now they were all running with soldiers somewhere in the distance, in the darkness behind them, chasing after them, hunting them. If they got them, they’d kill them, Tallin knew that, but he was furious that they were being run out of their own home, he wanted to stand and fight._

_A ship emerged from the clouds overhead suddenly, swooping down. It was a small, old, battered thing and it landed clumsily between the trees – Tallin barely made out the name on its side;_ Sycamora _. The five stopped running, gasping for air._

_“We won’t all fit in that!” Tallin shouted, outraged. His father grabbed his shoulders and looked him in the eye, dark and angry._

_“You’re going alone.”_

_“What?” Tallin was confused; only an hour ago he had been in his warm bed and now..., “Going where? What’s going on?”_

_“We called for our friends, the moment we knew Rozene was planning to overthrow me. They will take you to Golbahar-“_

_“Golbahar?!” Tallin’s eyes widened, “But father, that’s in a different galaxy-“_

_The shouts of the soldiers got louder. Thrisan squeezed his sons narrow shoulders, “Be brave. We need to keep you safe from Rozene – she’s insane, and you’re the heir to the throne-“_

_“Dad-“_

_“Shhh,” Vallea gathered Tal in her arms and squeezed him, “It’s only temporary.”_

_“What about you?” Tallin asked helplessly. Zea, Wyliam, Thris and Val exchanged worried, sad looks._

_“We’ll be fine,” it was Zea who forced a smile, “We’ll split up, make it harder for them to find us. But you have to go – now.”_

_Tallin felt like he was in a bad, bad nightmare. Zea kissed his forehead, Wyliam squeezed him fiercely. His parents told him things he couldn’t hear. His family was getting ripped away from him so violently and suddenly and Tal didn’t know how to comprehend that. The door to the old ship opened and before he knew it he was being shoved forward._

_“Mom-,” he turned, panicking, but hands grabbed him._

_“Come on!” a man with red hair shouted, pushing him in, “We have to go!”_

_An explosion sounded nearby, so intense it rocked the ship. The shouting grew louder – they were coming._

_“Shit,” the redheaded man swore and ran for the controls. Tallin’s head spun, the ship’s door closed with a hiss, blocking his view of his family, his home. Everything was happening so fast. Tallin’s breathing grew more intense, he felt like there was no air in his lungs. He tried to speak but the only thing that came out of his mouth was gasps. He swayed on his feet, and then he lost consciousness._

**_3 rd Duagharrd 1178 (1 day later)_ **

**_Fayaxiamen_ ** _._

_Newly crowned Queen Rozene paced up and down the throne room as the voices in her head hissed a dozen things at her;_ kill your brother...no, Tallin is the threat...throw a banquet...murder everyone...

_“Shhhh,” Rozene whispered, rubbing her temples and cooing as if speaking to a child, “Shush, not now...”_

_She paced and paced and finally the herald walked into the room, back straight, eyes dark, “Your majesty,” he bowed and the voices quietened, eager to hear what the herald had to say, “The assassins are here.”_

_“Send them in,” Rozene’s voice boomed across the room. The herald bowed, so low his nose almost touched the floor._ Pathetic... _before Rozene’s voices could tell her to murder him in some brutal way, the double doors leading to the throne room opened and two men entered._

_One was a Shif, tall and broad with golden hair that fell to his chin and angry light green eyes. Dressed in armour he looked like he could’ve been a knight from a fairytale, not a hired killer. Next to him skipped the complete opposite of him; graceful and lithe the Charasean was grinning as he approached Rozene, looking relaxed and unbothered though his almond-shaped black eyes gleamed behind his messy black hair that swooped over his white forehead and around his pointed ears. The two assassins kept a distance of disgust and hate between each other, and refused to look one another in the eye._

_“Queen,” the blond bowed down low and his rival did the same, but in a much more playful way. Rozene’s mouth twitched into a smile._

_“So you are the best assassins in all of Cairn, I hear,” she said._

_“I am Reid, Queen Rozene,” the blond said, voice deep and booming._ Mhmmm, I like that one...no, the other one could be more fun...

_“Just Reid?” Rozene asked, brow raised. In her crimson dress and golden crown she looked like a true queen, the one she deserved to be from the start. Her eyes slid to the Charasean, “And so you must be just Hamelin.”_

_The man’s eyes sparkled, “Naturally.”_

_“My Queen,” Reid stepped forward, earning himself a sly glance from Hamelin, “I am the best assassin in all three galaxies and I will bring you whoever’s head you want-“_

_“Oh please,” Hamelin snorted, amused, “you couldn’t bring back a dead rat-“_

_“Shut your mouth!” Reid glared at him. Rozene’s eyes narrowed; she didn’t like that the men weren’t paying attention to her._ Kill them...no, kill Thrisan first...we need them...

_“Gentlemen,” Rozene said, voice icy, “I entrust this assassination to both of you, and whomever brings Tallin Moringathu’s, my nephew’s, head will be paid enough to live like a Lord for the rest of their life.” She saw the men’s eyes narrow as they glanced at each other, “I will give you both equipment you need, ships if you so desire, time in bottles, anything you require to complete your mission.” She turned to the side door by her throne, “Felion!” she roared and the door opened, revealing a meek Shif boy. He was dressed in rags, his wrists chained, head hung low. He was so pale and thin that he looked dead already._

_The Assassins didn’t flinch. Rozene smiled and turned to her slave, “Now Felion, would you be so kind as to make these two lovely men some time? We can bottle it up and they can be on their way.”_

_***_

**_Earth 6.2, we are interrupting the audition with this emergency broadcast. A dangerous criminal by the name of Rohan Alif has escaped custody and is on the run on our planet. He was last seen in Aeli wearing all black, and has a distinctive scar on his left leg – his crime is illegal cloning. We are also looking for the clone he created – the man he was cloned from was named Tarlo Egyavik and his remains were found in his house in Aeli earlier this month, Alif has escaped custody however the clone was never found and could be dangerous. He is five-foot-eight with light blond hair, grey eyes and pale skin. He is a Shif. He is also a clone, and therefore must be destroyed. If anybody has any information please contact the Aeli police department at..._ **


	2. When Fyn met Wien

****

**11 th Myrogan 1179 (3 months later)**

**Earth 6.2**

Fynley had to get off the planet, he knew that, but how? The boy cowered in the darkness of the streets, watching spaceships zooming through the star-speckled sky overhead. His grey eyes followed them with want as he shivered in the cold night, yearning to be on one of those ships, being whisked away to safety. As long as he remained on Earth, he was in danger.

Thankfully Fyn was very plain looking, so not many people paid attention to him as they rushed past. Even so late at night the main port was bustling with life; boxes was being unloaded off big cargo ships while smaller vessels landed hurriedly to re-fuel. Everywhere Fyn looked he saw creatures, Shifs mostly. They hurried about, shouting orders or heaving under boxes or climbing onto ships. Nobody paid attention to the lonely, sad, shivering boy leaning on the wall of an alley, dressed in a tattered black cloak with dark brown hair that looked like it needed a haircut. He looked like a cornered animal, except nobody was cornering him, at least not yet.

 _Deep breaths Fynley,_ the boy told himself, his trembling hands gripping his cloak. He pulled it further over his forehead to hide himself from view even though he doubted anybody would even spare him a second glance. He desperately needed to find a ship that would hire him, but what did he have to offer? He barely knew how to do anything. _Come on, come on, I can do this..._ this was Fynley’s life now, and even though beforehand it had been horrible, now it was also terrifying, and there wasn’t much he could do about it – either he’d hide in the sewers for whatever time he had left or he’d try and be brave for _once_ and attempt to make some sort of life for himself.

The boy inhaled and stepped out of the alleyway. Immediately someone barged into him, making him stumble back.

“Look where you’re going, stupid kid!” the man yelled gruffly and hurried off as panic crept up Fyn’s throat. He stood there as people walked past and glared, because he was frozen and they were trying to move around him. _Go,_ he told himself and so he went, blindly following behind different people, trying to remain unseen while also looking out for something that could give him hope. He was cold, hungry and alone – it had been over three months since he ran, and he just wished somebody would tell him it was going to be alright but meanwhile people just walked past him, giving him dark looks and making him feel like the outsider that he was. Fyn started to blindly back up, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to stop his hysteria from consuming him. Maybe it was better if he just let them end it, if he just disappeared...

“Hey!” a hand grabbed his arm and jerked him backwards. Fynley stumbled and almost fell into a short, stocky man who had grabbed him, before violently flinching away from him. The stranger raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “You look lost, kid.”

Fyn’s blood chilled at the sight of him; the man was a species Fyn didn’t know – short, with deep red skin, black and crimson dreadlocks and a goatee. Despite the fact that he looked no taller than four foot and didn’t even reach Fyn’s chest, the huge gun at his back was enough to terrify the boy.

“S-Sorry!” he stuttered. The man laughed.

“Hey, relax, kiddo,” he raised his three-clawed hands up as if to show he was harmless. Fyn anxiously glanced around but nobody spared the two of them a second look, “I’m not looking for a fight.”

“Me neither,” Fyn mumbled.

“Then what _are_ you looking for?”

The man looked at Fyn expectantly and the boy swallowed, “Um...employment?” he offered. The red man nodded,

“Ah, I was hoping you’d say that. My name is Wien Baki, but you can call me the Devil,” he stuck his hand out and in the light it looked like it was covered with blood. Fyn hesitated for a moment but then slid his own pale, trembling hand out and took Wien’s. His three claw-like fingers felt weird to touch but the man had a strong grip, “We’ve got a job opening actually, on our ship.”

Fyn blinked. _This could be a way to kidnap me and sell my organs on the black market,_ his mind told him immediately, but Wien didn’t seem threatening despite his appearance. He released Fyn’s hand and, seeing his scared expression, pointed at a huge ship parked at the end of the strip – it was huge, bulky and ugly. Square-shaped, grey and surrounded by fog, it did not look inviting.

“That’s our ship, _Mnemosyne,”_ Wien said, pride ringing through his voice.

“I-It’s nice,” Fyn managed. Wien chuckled.

“No it’s not, but she gets the job done.”

“What...exactly is...your job?” Fyn asked hesitantly, scared that if he said something wrong this man would go ballistic. But Wien remained relaxed.

“We’re memory wipers,” he said casually, as if that was a normal job title. He laughed when Fynley’s eyes widened, “Relax, kid, or your eyes will pop out. The title is pretty self-explanatory, we do private hires only and charge quite a lot, but don’t worry,” he winked, “you won’t be required to do any wiping – we need a cleaner.”

“Cleaner?” Fyn mumbled, and then asked, terrified, “Like...a body cleaner?”

Wien bellowed out a laugh that made Fyn flinch, “No, kid! A ship cleaner, as in wipe the dust and shit. Think you’re up for that?”

Fynley tried to mull the information over as quickly as he could. On one hand this bizarre, unsettling man whose job was to wipe people’s memories was offering him a dodgy position on an equally dodgy ship...and on the other hand he was star-sent. He was Fynley’s one way ticket off Earth 6.2.

“Yeah,” Fyn took a deep breath, cold night air filling his lungs, “Yeah, I’m up for that.”

“Good,” Wien nodded, “Come with me.”

He started to walk briskly and quickly which was surprising since his legs were quite short. Fyn struggled to catch up with him, “Aren’t you going to ask me about things?” he asked – if anything he still had the chance to run, “Like, about a criminal record or anything?”

“Nah,” Wien waved him off, “We’ve all done things in the past. Hell, our captain used to be a space pirate.”

Fyn blinked, “Really?”

Wien didn’t reply because they had reached the ship. Its doors were open like the gaping mouth of some creature and a group of people who Fynley assumed was the crew were tossing in bags and boxes. They were a colourful, peculiar bunch and Fynley tried very hard not to stare at them as he shuffled past, keeping his head down low and following Wien.

“I’ll show you to your room,” the red-skinned man said, as he and Fyn stepped onto the ship. The moment his feet touched the metal landing, the boy turned, anxiously glancing back at the dark, foggy port. It had been his home for the short time he had been ‘alive’ and despite all the pain Earth 6.2 caused him, the moment when he was finally free and running through the streets of Aeli had been the happiest he ever was, and probably would be. He exhaled and gripped the duffle bag slung over his shoulder a little tighter.

 _Goodbye,_ he thought and turned away from the view, walking into the dark interior of the ship that could’ve either been his salvation, or his demise.

**(The same day)**

**Rum.**

Kai was the last of the Silvers to wake up, as per usual. It took a whole lot of rattling about, chatting, throwing clothes about and a couple flicks to his forehead to finally get the Zalian to open his eyes. When he did he was greeted by a steely grey sky; even though Rum didn’t have a natural sun and so it was virtually always night Kai had learned over the years to distinguish from the day and the true darkness of night. Night meant work.

The bedroom was full of light, though, warm and softly falling from the crevices in the wall like some enchanting glow, turning the cold silver of the canopies over the seven beds warmer. Kaio blinked slowly, fighting the urge to ask for five more minutes. Five more minutes meant he could be late to his shift and although he worked just downstairs it didn’t mean he could show up whenever he wanted. Already the walls of the bedroom trembled from the deafening music of the club – sometimes Kai wondered how in Quinae he ever slept through all the ruckus.

The gorgeous boy sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking out sleepily across the room.

“Well look who finally decided to get up,” Tabora Isken shook her head from the bed opposite Kai’s as she pulled on skimpy leather shorts over her impressive bottom. The Ubloit’s eyes were impassive – as part machine Tabora lacked any real emotions, which made her ideal for this job since she couldn’t get traumatized.

“Chill, Tab,” he said, voice hoarse from sleep, “You could’ve woken me.”

“We tried,” Gyssus Issaeaca snickered from the corner of the room where he was lacing up heavy black boots. His brunet dreads were pulled up into a messy bun and his green eyes sparkled with amusement. Despite being the oldest of the Silvers he rarely took things seriously, “You almost took Ae’s eye out.”

“Shit,” Kai looked at the Peek in the corner, “Sorry Aemis.”

Undoubtedly the most peculiar looking in the room, Aemis Beja was a creature called a ‘Peek’ from a different creature. He looked more like a pretty fish than anything. He had green skin, long hair that covered the bulbous, pulsing brain he had at the back of his neck, pointed and rigged skin and – weirdly – quite human legs. His eyes were all white, meaning it was hard to tell what he was thinking; Peek’s also couldn’t speak, making it so much harder to communicate with the boy. Still, now Aemis smiled and lifted his hands in a _what can you do?_ gesture, which Kai appreciated. He didn’t care about ever hurting anybody’s feelings but he felt very protective over Ae, since he didn’t have a bad bone in his body. Hell, Kai wasn’t sure he had _any_ bones in his body.

A piece of leather hit him in the face and Kai flinched. Kalana Kairi gave him a pointed look from where she had thrown it at him. Despite being a Charasean Omega she was anything but submissive, now crossing her arms over her chest and raising one of her arched eyebrow. Like everyone else she was dressed in leather, her breasts and ass barely covered, her blue-ended hair flowing down to her waist.

“Get dressed,” she commanded.

“What’s with the leather?” Kaio grumbled, holding up the material he was supposed to wear. It was a thin piece of leather that, undoubtedly, was supposed to cover his junk.

“It’s theme Thursday, _remember?”_ Gys said, pointing to his heavy shoes. Kai groaned. Why couldn’t Mr T just let them dance? These themed nights were horrible but the clients seemed to love them. Kai looked distastefully at the material – it would undoubtedly be uncomfortable as hell.

“Stop dawdling and let’s go,” Kalana clapped her hands, “Kai, you have a leather jacket to go with that and knee-high socks so get ready and let’s go eat breakfast before the shift!”

“Where’s Isa and Cavi?” Kai asked, noticing the two empty beds. A shadow of upset passed over Kalana’s face.

“Cav’s vomiting again, they’ll meet us downstairs.”

Kai didn’t say anything, just climbed out of bed as the rest of the Silvers left their shared bedroom. He looked at himself in the mirror; messy aquamarine hair, sleepy blue eyes. Who would he be forced to change into today? He sighed and stripped off his night-shirt – there were bigger issues at hand, like Cavi’s sickness; he had been puking for a week straight and Mr T seemed not to care. Well, in all honestly he rarely cared about anything to do with his dancers as long as they were dancing.

Kaio sighed and started to get dressed; he pulled the leather underwear over his soft cock and turned around, making a face when he saw that it was a thong, the leather stripe disappearing between his pale ass-cheeks. Grumbling and complaining to himself, Kai pulled on the knee-high socks and the leather jacket which somewhat covered him, revealing only a tantalizing stretch of his milky chest. Kai had to admit that he looked good, but that was obvious – all his life he was told he was beautiful and, as a Zalian, he was also able to change into other beautiful people. A simple touch of someone’s bare skin gave him the image of the person they most desired, which was why Kai was the most requested dancer in the ‘Thirteen Fragments,’ because even though some people liked the look of him, others just wanted somebody who looked like someone they loved moaning their name. It was disgusting really.

Kai turned away from the mirror and pulled the jacket more tightly around himself. He hated this job. Sighing he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. The hallway was dark and full of dim blue neon lights. Kai passed by like a ghost. There were only two other doors on that floor; one leading to the bedroom of the Golds and the other to their shared bathroom. Kaio walked past both to the shimmering wall at the end of the hall. He stood patiently.

“ _Name?”_ the mechanical voice of a female AI rang through the corridor.

“Kaio Muji,” Kai said with an eye-roll, “For stars’ sake, you know it’s me, Alice.”

“ _It’s-procedure-Kaio-,”_ the old AI replied, her voice riddled with static. He sighed as she scanned his face. The electromagnetic field stopping intruders from assaulting the dancers in their beds flickered green, “ _You-may-pass.”_ Alice said robotically, _“Have-a-good-shift.”_

“Thanks, Al.”

Kai plunged down a dark, spiralling staircase that led him to the upper floor of the dance-club. Immediately he was enveloped by a cloud of smoke, perfume and body odour that he was very used to. The top floor was half-open, a balustrade preventing anyone from toppling over. Kaio came to the edge now and peered down at the ground floor where, on several stages circled by chairs, some of the Golds were finishing their shifts. Neon lights blazed through the otherwise dark club and creatures sat in the chairs, stroking different parts of their bodies and hungrily looking at the dancers, writhing on their poles. Beneath Kaio’s floor was another half-floor, from which the sound of the moans of the Golds that were being fucked floated up. The ‘Thirteen Fragments’ was laid out pretty clearly; bottom floor was for dancing, the first floor for fucking and the second floor for gambling and drugs. The third floor was where the dancers lived. Kaio peered out of the closest window; the sky was darkening, but he still had some time before his shift.

“Boo!” someone’s hands grabbed his shoulders from behind. Kaio jumped up, startled, and whirled around to face the culprit, heart pounding. He came face to face with a small, pink-skinned girl, floating an inch above the floor and grinning at him brightly. Kai exhaled and relaxed.

“Stars, Q, you fucking scared me,” he grumbled, smacking her arm and forcing her to float a few inches to the left. The girl snickered.

“It’s your fault for letting your guard down,” she shrugged. Quetta Shalo was Kaio’s best friend in the ‘Thirteen Fragments,’ and even though she, as a Gold, worked the day shift and Kaio, as a Silver, danced in the night they still managed to meet up in between their shifts and sneak away somewhere to gossip, “Let’s go!” Q said now, grabbing Kai’s hand.

He had to drag her along – as a Calanthe gravity failed to affect Q the way it did other species, and she hated wearing the heavy boots that kept her down so although she mastered her floating to an extent she still found it hard to fly in a certain direction. Kai didn’t mind as he laced his fingers with her tiny ones and pulled her with him. They went to the end of the corridor where both of them sneaked into the emergency exit staircase but instead of climbing down they climbed up the metal railings that lined the walls, giggling to each other, and pushed open the trap door in the ceiling that led to the roof. Q floated upwards and Kai grabbed her ankle, allowing her to help him up onto the rooftop.

They were hit by a strong, evening wind and Kai grabbed Q around the waist to stop her from being blown off. In front of them stretched the familiar planet of Rum. There were no cities or towns, it was all a patchwork of grey, towering buildings and messily put together garages, going as far as Kai could see. The whole thing was laced with steely fog that glowed a dozen colours from shop-signs and campfires made by hobos. If you squinted, Rum looked ethereal, with ships lazily cutting through the air. But if you had perfect eyesight, like Kaio, you saw what a shithole it was. Rum was the beehive of crime, sex and drugs.

“What’s up with the attire?” Quetta asked as Kaio helped her sit on the edge of the roof, and putting a stray brick in her lap to stop herself from floating away. She pushed her pink curls from her face and watched Kai with amusement, tugging at one of his socks. The boy rolled his eyes.

“Theme Thursday,” he grumbled. Q nodded.

“Oh yeah, forgot it was Thursday now.”

She pulled out a little bag of crushed keleo, the crystals glimmering like a rainbow. Kai sat next to her on the rooftop and gave her a disapproving look before looking down. His feet swayed over five stories of nothing, and far beneath them he could see customers pouring in and out of the thirteen fragments. Q put the keleo into a pipe she produced from her bra and lit it, exhaling blissfully after the first pull.

“You should quit that,” Kai said without much conviction. Q let out a mouthful of shimmering smoke.

“Hey, we all have different ways to deal with this shitty job and this shitty planet,” she patted the brick in her lap, “Mine is keleo, yours is Aro.”

Kai fought the blush that rose to his pale cheeks which was easy, since he could just will it away the same way he could will his eyes to change shape, “Aros is _not_ my way to deal with this,” he growled. Q rolled her eyes,

“You know he’d be more than happy to fuck you if you asked,” she said innocently.

“I don’t want him to fuck me!” Kai exclaimed, “I hate him!”

Quetta snickered, “Your hair’s gone red.”

Embarrassed Kai slapped his hands over his hair and willed himself to look like anybody but himself – his hair grew long and blond, his skin darkened, his chest grew. Soon enough the Zalian looked like a random Shif girl that he had spotted on the street below them. Q shook her head and huffed out a laugh.

“You’re impossible,” she said and offered him the pipe. Kaio waved her away.

“You know I don’t touch that shit,” he grumbled and looked down again, eagerly enjoying his last few minutes of peace before his long and tiring twelve hour shift. Who would he dance for tonight? Who would he change into? Who would he sleep with? The Zalian’s appearance slowly shifted back to his own as he grew more depressed by his pressing reality. Q could go to bed now, wash the filth of the day off her skin, but he’d have to work, “I have to go,” he stood up and ruffled Quetta’s hair, “Don’t stay up too long.”

“I won’t,” Quetta said absent-mindedly, even though they both knew it was a lie; thanks to the keleo she would be up for hours. Kaio sighed and walked back to the trapdoor, rubbing his face. For a moment, like every night, he was tempted to jump into the foggy city beneath him but that thought quickly disappeared. It was just wishful thinking that death could end this miserable life. Undoubtedly something worse waited for him after that.

The boy carefully let himself back down the trapdoor. The first time he and Q had come up here, almost six months ago, he nearly fell to his death. The emergency staircase seemed a long way down. Kai swung from the pipes like a monkey and eased himself down by the emergency door without much trouble – he had a lot of practice.

However the moment he let himself back into the smoky corridor he smacked face-first into a muscular chest.

“Kaio,” the familiar, aggravating voice growled, making Kai’s blood jump a few degrees, “What the fuck are you doing outside _again_?”

The door was slammed shut behind the dancer and Kai stumbled back, getting a perfect view of his nemesis, Aros H’ai. His eye twitched at the sight of the ugly security guard.

“None of your goddamn business,” the dancer huffed. Aros glared at him – his eyes were unsettling since he was an Ishait, the sclera were perfectly black with the pupils an icy blue. But that wasn’t the only ugly thing about Aro – he was tall and bulky and awkward. His muscular chest, now hidden beneath a black shirt, was littered with scars. His shoulder-length silver hair was pulled back into a loose bun at the nape of his neck and his lips curled back in a sneer. His nose was bulky from being broken too many times and there was a scar running down the left side of his face, cutting through his eyebrow. His hands were like two sauce-pans, tanned and scarred, resting on the gun at his waist. Kai hated him, and he hated the fact that he had to crane his neck up to glare up at the guard.

“Get downstairs, _now,”_ Aro growled, the only indication of his annoyance being the twitch of his fingers at his weapon. Kaio’s eyes narrowed.

“I don’t take orders from creatures as hideous as you,” he hissed.

“You need to come up with new insults,” Aro said emotionlessly.

It was true though; Kai hated ugly people. He hated Mr T because he was ugly and a prick, he hated most of his guests because they were ugly and repulsive. He loved the other dancers at the ‘Thirteen’ because they were gorgeous. He hated Aro because he was arrogant and ugly. He hated himself, even though he was beautiful. It was all messy but the easiest way to categorize Kai’s burning feelings for the guard he had known for years was to simply put them down as ‘hate.’ It was easy to hate Aro, if only due to his appearance.

“I think it’s a good insult,” Kai bared his teeth in threat, “Because it’s true. You are the most disgusting man I have ever seen.”

Aro didn’t even flinch, “And you have a rotten personality,” he said and moved aside, leaving space open for Kai to walk down the stairs and towards the dance platforms. Kaio remembered suddenly that he was still half-naked in just some leather. He hated that Aro always had the upper hand, how Kai always felt weak and pathetic.

“Whatever,” he shoved past the guard, “Enjoy staring at my ass all shift.”

Aro’s jaw clenched, “Enjoy all the cocks shoved up that ass, Shapeshifter.”

Kaio fought the urge to punch him in the face as he hurried down. Why did Aro always manage to get under his skin like nobody else? Ever since they were kids they had hated each other. When they met Kai was thirteen. The fifteen year old guard was a soldier, trained to fight in the depths of the Eon galaxy. He was already scarred and grumpy back then and he and Kaio didn’t get on from the moment the guard had randomly grabbed his face one night and kissed him. Kai had hit him. It hadn’t ended well.

Kai shook his head in an attempt to clear it as he walked downstairs to a stage. He heard exited mumbles over the booming music as he stepped up, hand curling over his pole. It was cold in his palm. He felt the eyes of the clients on him, sliding, hungry, taking in every inch of his exposed skin. He smiled at the sultrily even though inside he recoiled in disgust as he circled the pole. The man at the front was an expressionless Wurund, ugly and stoic, and Kai hated him. And yet he asked-

“Who would you like me to be, sir?” in the sweetest voice he could muster. Silently the Wurund held out his hand and Kaio giggled fakely before pressing his own palm over it. He fought the urge to flinch in distaste. Kaio felt himself shifting; he was once again becoming a woman – his already pale skin turned white, he felt his ears elongate and his hair tumble to his waist in waves. He didn’t know what he looked like since there were no mirrors but the gleam in the Wurund’s eye told him that he looked just right. With a wink Kaio swung onto the pole, but not before he met Aros’ eyes across the room, burning with anger. He wished the man wouldn’t look at him, it made it harder to dance.

**(The same day)**

**Space around Arossa.**

Maybe Hamelin should’ve used the Time Queen Rozene gifted him but he though it stupid to use up his supply so early on in the hunt, where getting to Arossa took only three months and he might need the time later to travel to different galaxies further away.

Alas, he was here now, floating into the space around the small planet; once surrounded by the feared Salvagan fleet it was now open to everyone and so Hamelin’s small ship, _The Pied Piper,_ had no trouble approaching its air-space. Nobody knew he was there to assassinate a Prince, nobody even bothered to ask. Elin flicked on the autopilot button as he was automatically pulled into the planet by its heavy gravity – within an hour he’d touch down and there he could begin his search.

“We’re here, boys and girls,” Hamelin said to his empty ship. He almost laughed bitterly at the lack of reply. _Maybe I should get an AI,_ he thought, _it’d be less lonely._ Elin sighed and swivelled around in his Captain’s chair. What greeted him was a door, behind which was a narrow corridor that led to a singular sleeping cabin. When Hamelin had bought _Piper_ he thought it was perfect – he was running from demons from the past and wanted to be alone. Now, years later and working as a hired murdered, he couldn’t help but want somebody here with him, somebody to pat him on the shoulder and kiss his head and tell him he did a good job. _I know exactly who I want it to be,_ Elin thought and his heart throbbed at the thought of _him._ The Charasean turned back to the window, trying to focus on the gorgeous galaxy stretched out in front of him instead of his aching loneliness.

 _Think about the mission._ Hamelin switched on his radio and watched as the planet came closer and closer. Arossa was an obvious first place to look for Prince Tallin; after-all Arossa and Fayaxiamen had an old and steady alliance, with Tallin’s uncle being the King of Arossa. Maybe it was too obvious but hopefully in their panic King Thrisan and Queen Vallea didn’t think of a more elaborate plan and if they did...well, Queen Rozene didn’t pick Elin out of thousands of assassins for no reason – he was a great tracker, but so was-

“ _Get the fuck out of the airspace you prick!”_ Reid’s voice crackled over the intercom. Hamelin smiled, sinking down in his chair. Nothing like a little fight with the Shif to brighten his day.

“I was here first,” Hamelin replied, “Honestly I’m quite shocked that your tiny brain even figured out that this was a good place to start.”

“ _Asshole!”_ Reid roared over the intercom, “ _I’ll squash you like a bug!”_

Hamelin’s grin widened, “I’m so scared,” he teased. Nearby he could see the other assassin’s ship, equally as small as his but much more bulky and awkward, with guns sticking out around it like spider-legs. _Beelzebub_ was a familiar and welcome sight to Elin.

“ _I swear to stars, Hamelin,”_ Elin could hear the anger in Reid’s deep voice, _“I’m going to actually kill you if you touch down on Arossa.”_

Hamelin fake-gasped, “But what will you tell Queen Rozene, Reid?” he taunted, “That you killed the only person who could ever get the job done?”

 _“You’re a little shit, you know that Hamelin?”_ Reid growled into the radio. Both their ships were being pulled in by Arossa which grew beneath them. Futilely Elin tried to see Reid in the cockpit of _Beelzebub,_ wanting to glimpse those furrowed eyebrows and angry eyes. All he saw was the dark window.

“At least I’m a _competent_ little shit, Reid.”

He heard the other man huff in annoyance, _“Whatever, just stay the fuck out of my way, Hamelin,”_ he said coldly and the intercom clicked off. The smile melted off Elin’s face and he slumped in his captain’s chair, closing his eyes for a moment. He felt lonely without Reid’s pestering voice.

 _I wish we weren’t rivals,_ his heart ached thinking about how he and Reid could team up and work together, how he wouldn’t have to be alone all the time. But they were destined to be enemies; they met four years ago, when Hamelin had just turned twenty. Reid was one year older and already an up-and-coming assassin, his name whispered through the dirty streets of Rum where he lived, waiting for his new assignments. When Hamelin had first saw him, all strong and arrogant, he decided he wanted to be better than him. And he was now, at least to some. He and Reid had become the greatest assassins in the three galaxies before they even reached the age of twenty five, leaving behind a bloody trail of bodies in an attempt to beat the other. Whoever killed the Prince would solidify himself as the greatest and Hamelin knew, deep down, that after this assignment their paths would part and they would no longer fight over stupid titles.

That filled Hamelin with sadness – Reid was the only constant person in his life, the only one Elin looked forward to speaking with. When he was gone, Hamelin would once again be alone in the galaxy.

 _But not yet,_ the man shook his head to stop the overwhelming influx of dark thoughts and straightened up in his seat. He was slowly passing through Arossa’s atmosphere and soon he’d have to fight to get information ahead of Reid.

Hamelin patted the steering board, “Come on, Pipes,” he whispered. If he was destined to be alone forever at least he wanted to win.


	3. When Grey met Aestla

 

****

**12 th Myrogan 1179 (The next day)**

**Arossa.**

Reid stepped out of his ship and immediately got a mouthful of fresh, flowery air. He looked around at the fields stretching out around the port he had landed in and wondered if during the night maybe he had died and gone to heaven. Everywhere he looked he saw trees blooming with pink and purple flowers, with floating children happily playing beside little houses. Nearby, past the neat fields, rose the capitol city but it seemed like a world away. Reid exhaled. Maybe one day, when he was done with all his jobs, he could come here and live out his old years in peace. Yes, that would be nice...

 _You have a job, Reid,_ the assassin reminded himself and hurried back onto _Beelzebub_ to gather the things he needed. He dressed in clothes he thought might suit Arossa; a white shirt, blue, loose pants and a matching scarf that trailed behind him. He hoped that he looked friendly and approachable, even as he slung his gun over his shoulder. It was covered, of course, in a bag that made it look like he was carrying a guitar. With the top half of his golden hair pushed out of his face he looked more like a bard than a murderer. _Good._ He had to blend in to find Prince Tallin. The first place to look was the Tower Palace; if Tallin looked for sanctuary on this planet it would be with his uncle Kalorian.

 _Too bad Hamelin had the same idea,_ Reid’s hands clenched into fists on their own accord. Stars, if he and that little shit got locked in the same room Reid was sure he’d kill him. Even those few minutes speaking to him on the intercom yesterday were enough to get his blood boiling, but in the end the Charasean had been right – Reid couldn’t kill him and risk the wrath of Queen Rozene. Trying desperately to forget about the other man, Reid hitched a ride to the capitol. It would be better if nobody recognised his ship and _Beelzebub,_ or just _The Bub_ as Reid like to call it, was quite distinguishable.

The random Calanthe that had given him a lift dropped him off at the palace gates and Reid couldn’t help but appreciate the architecture of the castle as it loomed overhead. The gates were locked but that wasn’t a problem for Reid – the reason it had taken him three months to get here was because he had to take a detour to Rum, where a friend of his fixed him up with a dozen passes that could get him into a lot of heavily guarded places in the Cairn galaxy. One of them was the Tower Palace.

“ _Halt_!” the two Calanthe guards shouted in Fiala from the gate, crossing their spears as if the metal bars couldn’t keep Reid back. The assassin tried not to look threatening even though he was taller than both the guards, “ _What is your business here, sir?”_ the anxiety in their voices made it clear to Reid that they had heard about what happened at Fayaxiamen and were probably expecting him. Except they didn’t know that Reid was Reid. The blond held out his wrist and swiped it. The identification hologram of someone who _definitely_ wasn’t him floated in the air between him and the gate. Before Reid had left his ship he had manually put the ID chip under his skin; it hurt just as much as twelve years ago, when he had first scraped his own ID chip out.

“ _My name is Asel Roumik,”_ Reid lied  in Fiala. He was good with languages, and clearly put the Calanthe at ease as they scanned his ID between the bars. Their scanner beeped green, “ _I’m the new hired musician.”_

The guard exchanged a look, and nodded, “ _Come through.”_ They opened the gates for him and Reid listened for a few minutes as they told him where to find the servant quarters. That would be the best place to go – Reid knew many maids who liked gossip, and many more who’d gladly open their mouths for a small price. Reid nodded and thanked the guards, and he must’ve gained enough of their trust because they simply waved him through without even checking his guitar bag. Honestly, Reid was a little shocked at how easy it was.

He made his way down the cobbled pathway to the main entrance, trees rustling in the wind on both his sides. He enjoyed the breeze brushing against his face and closed his eyes for a moment. Stars, how nice it could’ve been to live here...Reid carried on his way before he grew too melancholic. At the main gate he saw some ships and carriages and people bustling around so he veered left like the guards told him – the less people saw him the better. Reid wanted at least a few more weeks before people put a face to his name and issued out warrants. Hopefully by then Tallin would be dead, the money would be in Reid’s pocket and he could forever keep Hamelin’s crestfallen expression in his mind when the Charasean found out he lost. Reid smirked. That expression would make all this hassle worth it.

As Reid rounded the corner he zeroed in on his target; a Calanthe girl was hanging up sheets behind the palace, alone. She was young and pretty with her auburn hair in two braids, her feet in heavy boots that held her down and stopped her from floating away...Reid knew he had to turn his charm on. He smiled as he approached her.

“ _Hi,”_ he said in Fiala. The girl jumped and squeaked in surprise before turning around, a hand pressed to her chest. The moment she saw Reid with his ‘guitar’ she relaxed visibly.

“ _You scared me, sir!”_

 _“I’m no sir,”_ Reid laughed and saw a blush rise to the girl’s cheeks alongside a smile. This would be easy, “ _I’m actually employed in the castle; I’m the new musician.”_

 _“Oh!”_ the girl perked up, _“oh that is wonderful!”_ she clapped her hands. Reid came closer and offered her his hand.

 _“My name is Asel,”_ he said, and the girl fluttered her eyelashes at him while taking his hand.

 _“I’m Aliina,”_ she said, fluttering her eyelashes, “ _You’re a Shif, but you speak great Fiala.”_

 _“Thankyou,”_ Reid beamed at her. He glanced up at the palace, “ _So tell me, what’s working here like?”_

The smile disappeared off Aliina’s face somewhat, “ _Well...,”_ she bit her lip, “ _It used to be lively and lots of fun but ever since the usurpation on Fayaxiamen...”_

 _“Fayaxiamen?”_ Reid decided to play dumb, furrowing his brows. Aliina blinked at him.

“ _You haven’t heard?”_

_“No. Isn’t Fayaxiamen a planet in the Arda Galaxy?”_

Aliina nodded, clearly eager to show Reid how knowledgeable she was, “ _That’s right! One of our current Kings, King Kal, is from there and unfortunately a few months back his younger sister usurped the throne from his older brother! They say she’s insane!”_

 _She got that right,_ Reid though, remembering the crazed look in Queen Rozene’s eyes when she gave him and Hamelin their task. As Aliina spoke she came closer to Reid, her expression full of fear and uncertainty. The stupid girl didn’t realise that she was looking danger right in the face. But Reid wouldn’t kill her – he hated to get civilians involved, that was more Hamelin’s forte.

 _“That’s truly horrible,”_ Reid admitted. Aliina grabbed his hands – that was what he had been waiting for.

 _“I know!”_ the girl gushed, “ _it breaks my heart that that family had to be split up!”_

 _“Well are they safe?”_ Reid asked, drawing her nearer. Aliina was looking up at him with big eyes – her desire for him was obvious, _“Surely they would be safe here, in the Tower Palace, with the security so strict at the gate-“_

Aliina shook her head, “ _No, it’s too obvious,”_ she said. Reid nodded as if she had said the most intelligent thing.

“ _You’re right. Queen Rozene undoubtedly sent assassins-“_

 _“Oh, don’t!”_ Aliina gasped, eyes full of tears. Her fingers clutched Reid’s, “ _It’s so horrible!”_

 _“But if not here then where?”_ Reid asked, voice dripping with false-worry, “ _Do they have family somewhere in the Galaxy? Perhaps it’s better for them to go to Eon-“_

 _“All I know is that they are not here,”_ she sighed, “ _but my best guess is that they went to Woorud Station, or perhaps Prince Tallin did; that’s what some of the other servants are saying.”_

Reid perked up, “ _Woorud station?”_

 _“Yes. It’s known for its neutrality despite belonging to Saarashik,”_  Aliina nodded, not knowing that she was most likely signing Tallin’s death sentence, “ _They have taken refugees since the Cairn War, and if Prince Tallin was to be safe anywhere...”_

Reid nodded, “ _You’re right. You’re very smart for figuring that out, Aliina.”_

The girl smiled, “ _Thankyou, Reid.”_

 _“Well, it’s best if I get settled in,”_ Reid let go of the girl’s hands, “ _Perhaps...we could meet later?”_

He saw how happy Aliina looked when she nodded and Reid couldn’t help but feel a little bad – they’d never meet again. He smiled at her and stepped towards the servant’s entrance. Aliina seemed like a nice girl, but a very stupid and naive one. Reid’s trip to Arossa was definitely shorter than he expected but he’d have to somehow corroborate Aliina’s information – a quick gossip around the castle should do the trick, and then Reid could maybe explore this beautiful planet some before continuing on his hunt...

***

The assassin downed another drink, which probably wasn’t a good idea since he’d have to pilot in the morning. The Calanthe might’ve not looked like it, but their alcohol was strong; the drink Reid just had made his head spin a little.

He had found this small, secluded bar down in town and had spent the best part of the evening sitting in the corner, drinking and wallowing in his thoughts. Where to next? Woorud station seemed to be the common lead but if he didn’t find Tallin there he’d have to return to Arossa and start everything over again. _I wonder if Hamelin knows anything..._ Reid thought as he ordered another drink. His green eyes scanned the bar, full of questionable looking creatures. Somehow the spark for finishing the job that usually accompanied him was gone; he didn’t have the energy to hunt, which was why he had holed himself up in this bar and was now attempting to drink his sorrows away. This was going to be it, the last job. With the money Queen Rozene was offering Reid could live comfortably on any planet for the rest of his life. He could settle down, find a partner, maybe have kids, put this blood-thirsty past behind him-

“Fancy meeting you here,” the cheerful, snarky voice jerked Reid out of his hopeful thoughts. Hamelin casually slid into the chair opposite the blond as if he belonged there, as if Reid couldn’t easily put a bullet in that pale forehead of his.

Annoyance and anger descended onto the Shif, “What the _fuck_ do you want, Hamelin?” he demanded, hands itching to grab his weapon, still concealed as a guitar. He must’ve glanced at it because Hamelin’s eyes followed that way. He smirked.

“Didn’t know you played,” the Charasean said teasingly. Reid’s eyes narrowed.

“Answer my goddamn question,” he growled. The waitress brought Reid’s drink over, placing it wordlessly on the table between the two men.

“Aw, you got me a drink, Reid!” Hamelin gushed, grabbing the glass full of blue liquid and taking a long sip before Reid could stop him. Furious, the blond snatched it away from him, spilling some on the table.

“You’re threading on thin ice here, Hamelin,” Reid said coolly, gripping the glass tightly to stop himself from lashing out, “It’s enough that we’re on the same planet, you have no business being in the same bar.”

Hamelin leaned his chin in his hand and smiled slowly at Reid, “Ah, darling, I thought you enjoyed my company.”

Reid’s jaw clenched, “Do _not_ call me darling.”

“Why not?” Hamelin teased, his free hand creeping across the table. His pale fingers brushed over Reid’s hand and the Shif snatched his hand back in disgust, glaring. Hamelin laughed gleefully; how he wasn’t afraid of Reid the assassin didn’t know, but it was really pissing him off, “So tell me about your day, darling.”

“I will kill you,” Reid seethed.

“Mhmmm, I love it when you talk dirty to me,” Hamelin winked and a wave of heat went through Reid, but he chalked it down to just plain anger. He wished he could just reach out and wrap his hand around that pale neck...

“I fucking hate you.”

“Mhmmm,” Hamelin practically purred, leaning forward, “So tell me, Reid, have you found him too?” Reid found himself looking at the sparkles in Hamelin’s almond-shaped black eyes.

“Huh?” he asked.

“Tallin,” Hamelin smirked, “Have you found Tallin?”

Reid frowned, “What? No. He’s not on Arossa.”

Hamelin cocked his head to the side, taunting him, his deep, dark eyes sparkling with mischief, “Are you sure about that?”

“Yes!” Reid snapped, “all my sources point towards Woorud Station and-“

Too late he realised that he had said too much. Hamelin smiled and leaned back in his chair, “Ah,” he said, “Good. I wasn’t able to even get into the castle but I knew you’d easily give any information you found to me.”

Reid’s blood boiled. Hamelin had a quick tongue and he was sly – how had Reid not realised that he was betraying all his information to the other assassin? He fumed and his hand clenched around his glass. Cracks appeared in it and Hamelin realised that he had pissed Reid off a little too much.

“See you at Woorud,” he winked and with a he got to his feet and skipped off, disappearing in the crowd.

Reid slammed his glass down, spilling even more of his drink, “Fuck,” he groaned. His head pounded. Now Hamelin, who was sober, would be one step ahead of him. How infuriating. Reid couldn’t lose to him. He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face; was he an idiot? Was he so lost in Hamelin’s sweet, poisonous words that he didn’t see the underlying questions? _Fuck those eyes of his..._ Reid thought glumly. Hamelin was always the smart one, but Reid wasn’t going to get distracted this time.

The assassin threw some coins on the table and stood up. He decided – there was no time for hotels or sleeping. He’d sober up in space. Right now the priority was to get on _The Bub_ and get to Woorud before Hamelin.

**(The same night)**

**Somewhere in Space.**

Captain Navan Alexei sat in his office, a small oval room full of memory archives and boxes and boxes of time. He was reading over his latest job request when a soft knock came on the door. Exhausted, the man rubbed a hand down his face, his fingers catching on stubble and tried to seem upbeat to whichever crew member was knocking.

“Come in!” he called. The door to the office swung open and Wien waddled in, hands in the pockets of his leather trench coat. Nav offered him a smile and leaned back casually in his chair, “Wien! How can I help you, my friend?”

“Fryva told me that we had a new job,” the Devil grumbled, “was wondering if we need time for it.”

“Ah, right,” in his efforts to stay awake Nav had completely forgot that he needed to consult his Timemaker. He was very lucky to have Wien as part of his crew; without him _The Mnemosyne_ would have trouble to getting to half the places they needed to. Part of the job of memory wiper was the requirement for quick delivery. “The request is from Domaru.”

“Eon galaxy,” Wien didn’t look happy, “Gotcha.”

“Part of the time we have stacked up,” Nav reassured him, gesturing to the piles of metal boxes in the corner of the office, “We’ll probably only need a new bottle or too.”

“Right.”

“And I need you to ask Lieja to get the papers we need to even _get_ into Eon.”

“Right.”

Navan sighed. His friend was being blunt and the Ishait Captain didn’t understand why, “Go on, tell me what’s wrong.”

“’ts nothing, Nav.”

“For Qinae’s sake, Wien,” Navan rolled his eyes, “I know you, whatever’s bothering you, you can just tell me.”

The Rasdlik shuffled uncomfortably, “Well...uh...so I _was_ gonna tell you as soon as I did it, but then I kind of forgot, y’know, with that traffic jam we had on Earth and just...”

Navan’s head pounded. He was so tired that he was almost falling asleep in his seat. _I need someone to touch me,_ the Captain thought miserably but it wasn’t like he could ask Wien for it – he’d hate to appear weak in front of his crew.

“Just tell me, Wien.”

“I hired a cleaner,” the Devil said hurriedly, as if expecting Navan to lash out at him. The Captain raised an eyebrow; in his current state that seemed to be the opposite of a problem.

“Alright. And?”

Wien blinked, “Well I didn’t get him scanned or anything. He’s some Shif off Earth 6.2, looks perfectly harmless, still a kid. He looked lost and scared so I just...,” he shrugged.

“Wien, I really don’t care who you hired to clean this dump,” Navan sighed, “I trust you.”

Wien relaxed visibly, “Yeah. Right. Okay,” he cleared his throat, “I’m gonna go then. Lots of work to do if we wanna get to Domaru.”

“Right,” Nav nodded, “Don’t forget to tell Lieja-“

“I know, I know,” Wien nodded and then scurried out of the room, closing the door behind him. The moment he was gone Navan slumped down in his chair. He exhaled but even staring at the fluorescent lights overhead wasn’t helping his exhaustion. He was an Ishait, which meant he needed physical touch to survive. He had hoped to get some prostitute on Earth 6.2 but the memory-wiping of the governor’s wife had been so hectic and chaotic that he completely forgot. When was the last time somebody had touched him? _Properly_ touched him, for longer than a few seconds? It had been weeks, months maybe. Everything was getting blurry.

Navan stood up. He couldn’t be a good captain if he died, but he also couldn’t show his weakness; he was an ex-pirate and on pirate ships if you were vulnerable you’d be replaced. Nav loved _The Mnemosyne_ too much to let her fall out of his hands. He’d be fine – they’d be at Domaru in a couple of weeks and there he could get enough touch to give him strength, and he’d be fine...

Navan held out his hand and a hologram of a mirror appeared in front of him. The man winced at his reflection – his normally caramel-coloured skin looked ashy, his pale green eyes dark with tiredness. His black sclera only emphasised the shadows around his eyes. His dark purple hair looked like a rat’s nest, messy and his clothing was crumpled. _How do you crumple leather?_ The Captain thought, futilely trying to smooth down the material over his chest. He sighed and leaned on his desk. Long story short, he looked like shit. _I need sleep,_ Nav waved the mirror away. Sleep and food would definitely help but if Nav didn’t get physical touch soon he’d waste away like a daisy in autumn until there was nothing left of him. He shuddered at the thought and with a flick of his fingers switched the light off in his office.

The door opened with a hiss as he stepped out into the hallway. It was dim and metal with large, oval, protruding windows perfect for watching the galaxy as it lazily swam past. Navan had spent his whole life up here, so the stars failed to make any lasting impression on him. Undoubtedly soon the galaxy outside would freeze as Wien created extra time, and they’d rush through the unchanging space, on their way to Domaru. Navan had been to the Eon galaxy only a handful of times, mostly right after the Cairn war when lots of war refugees escaped to different galaxies and wanted their memories wiped. Back then he was alone on a little ship, doing the job for pennies. Now he was known across the galaxy and had a legitimate company. Nevertheless Eon was a hard galaxy to get into, cold and foreboding it was surrounded by the Rina Barrier which kept all ships at bay unless they had the correct licences to pass. Hopefully _The Mnemosyne_ would be able to get passes, otherwise they’d be unable to get to their client.

Navan thought over the logistical challenges of operating in the Eon galaxy as he stalked down the hallways of his ship, on his way to his cabin. He almost didn’t see the boy, huddling in the shadows until the kid accidentally dropped his broom. They both jumped and immediately Nav pulled his laser gun from his waistband, pointing it at the intruder.

The kid let out a little squeak and froze, shoving his hands up in the air. Nav’s eyes narrowed – the boy might’ve not looked threatening but that didn’t mean he wasn’t; he could be one of those Zalians that shapeshift.

“What he fuck are you doing on my ship?” Navan demanded, finger hovering dangerously over the trigger of his gun. He was tired and therefore on edge.

“I-I-I’m just cleaning!” the boy whimpered, his big, doe-like eyes filling with terror, “P-Please don’t shoot me, I-I was hired b-by Wien and-“

Navan exhaled, his arm dropping to his side loosely. _Quinae,_ he thought helplessly, rubbing a hand down his face. He was really loosing it. Nav’s irritation with himself seemed humorous to him for some reason and suddenly he was laughing quietly, shoulders shaking. He couldn’t fight this bone-deep tiredness for much longer...

“Apologies,” Nav pulled his hand away from his face and smiled dopily at the kid – who cared what the boy thought of him anyway? “You can never be too careful.”

The boy swallowed but kept his trembling hands up anyway, mouth in a thin line. He looked a good few years younger than Navan with light brown hair and grey eyes. The lack of tentacles or extra body parts made Nav think that this cleaner was Shif. A scared, trembling Shif.

“Hey,” Navan smiled and put his gun away, “You can relax now, I won’t shoot you. I said I’m sorry, didn’t I?”

Hesitantly the kid lowered his arms as if scared that any second Navan might change his mind and shoot him anyway. Nav watched his movement with interest; if he were a Vlassain, the animal-like species, he would’ve been a mouse. But alas Nav was pretty sure the boy in front of him was human, and something about him seemed vaguely familiar. The kid looked like he wanted to disappear, or blend in with his surroundings. His bangs were so long they almost covered his eyes completely and he wore baggy, shapeless clothing. Slowly he reached down and picked his broom up.

“You’re that clone that ran away,” Navan remembered suddenly. The kid dropped the broom again and took a step backwards, eyes wide and terrified. Despite not being a space pirate anymore Nav still had connections to the Grey Web, the dark side of the interwebs. He knew that the Earth 6.2 police were searching for a guy who looked almost exactly like the kid in front of Nav, except blond, and quite a few head-hunters were also out to catch him. _I could get a nice prize for turning him in,_ Navan mused as his eye danced over the clone, “So, you’re Rohan Alif.”

“No!” the kid blurted with sudden conviction, a blush rising to his pale face, “No, he was m-my...he was the original, I...,” the kid looked to the side as if looking for an escape.

“I’m not going to turn you in,” Nav said calmly. The boy’s eyes snapped to him.

“Y-You...won’t?”

“Nah, I don’t like police,” Navan smiled, “Honestly this is the first time I’m seeing a clone up close. You’ve dyed you hair – smart, it’ll be harder for people to recognise you.”

“I didn’t do it because of that,” the boy said quietly, self-consciously touching his overlong hair and finally dropping his arms from his protective position, “I just didn’t want to look like him anymore...”

“That dead guy?” Navan asked casually and the clone recoiled visibly. Clearly that was a sensitive topic and Nav didn’t want to pry, nor did he particularly care. Stars, he just wanted to sleep; if only he wasn’t afraid he’d never wake up again..., “So do you go by Rohan or...?”

“No, um,” the boy bit his lip and once again picked up the broom, this time cradling it to his chest protectively, “I...my name’s Fynley. Or j-just Fyn.”

“Alright Fyn,” Navan nodded his head, “My name is Navan Alexei and I’m the Captain of this ship. I should have probably welcomed you formally but...well,” he shrugged.

“Are you...are you going to kick me of the ship?” Fynley asked, glancing at Navan uncertainly. The Captain cracked a grin and shook his head.

“Nah, as long as you do your job right and keep this old girl clean I won’t,” he patted the wall fondly. Then a wave of nauseating dizziness descended on him. The shadowy corridor tilted sideways and Nav closed his eyes, stumbling against the closest wall. _This is it,_ he thought distractedly, his body temperature dropping drastically, _I’m finally dying._ Navan felt like he was underwater, his skin like ice cubes. He had had these attacks before, more often in the last few days, but he didn’t want to have one out here, in the open. He didn’t want his crew to find his corpse on the floor.

He floated in darkness. How long had he been here?...

“...tain!” someone shouted above him, “Captain!”

Suddenly warm hands were gripping his face. It was as if a small star flickered to life in Navan’s chest where before there had been nothing but a black hole. Warmth trickled from that star and through Navan’s body, chasing away the painful cold. The Captain frowned as he grew aware of his surroundings once more. His eyes were closed. He was laying on the floor. Someone was hysterically shaking him, warm fingers digging into his cheeks. Navan’s hands lifted up on their own accord and pressed over the life-saving hands touching his skin. _Yes,_ he thought, _I need this._ The touch of another creature felt like a warm blanket descending on his shoulders.

His eyes fluttered open. The clone was leaning over him, eyes scared. _Does he always look so scared...?_ Nav wondered distantly.

“Fyn,” he mumbled. The Shift exhaled a panicked breath.

“Oh thank Stars,” he gasped, “I-I thought y-you died, I t-thought they would kill me if they found you-“

Navan let go of the boy’s hands, still on his face, and sat up. Now that his senses had returned he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed about the whole ordeal. He had fainted in front of some kid he just met; stars, how Nav hated being pathetic and that was exactly what he was right now.

“Are you sick?” the boy asked worriedly, still kneeling next to Navan, “Do you want me to call someone?”

“No,” Nav felt a headache fast approaching and he rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Do not tell anybody about this.”

“But-,” Fyn bit his lip.

“No,” Navan snapped and he felt bad when the clone recoiled from him, “No,” Nav said, softer now, “Listen, my crew can’t know that I’m weak. It’s simply an Ishait thing,” the Captain explained and he could see Fynley relaxing and the calm tone of his voice, “We need physical contact to live and I simply haven’t touched anyone in a few weeks. You don’t need to worry about me, you-,” suddenly Nav paused, an idea forming in his brain.

He always thought he couldn’t ask his crew for touches because it’d make him appear reliant and vulnerable...but Fynley had just seen him at his lowest  - in the clone’s eyes Nav was probably already feeble, so if Navan was to ask him...

“I have a favour to ask of you,” the Captain said suddenly, hoping nobody would be heading down this corridor at this time. Fynley looked worried at his tone, “You saw what a lack of touch does to me, so from now on you’ll be helping to keep me alive.”

“M-Me?” Fyn looked like he didn’t understand.

“Yes,” Navan managed to get to his feet without struggling too much, “It’s a long way to Domaru. Come to my room tomorrow night.”

Nav felt dizzy again and so he didn’t get to see Fynley’s expression, not that he even had the energy to argue with the boy and explain to him how necessary this whole thing was. Nav felt confident enough in that moment to believe that he’d wake up if he slept so he turned towards his room.

“B-But Captain-,” only then Fyn tried to protest.

“If you don’t,” Navan’s brain pounded with pain, “I will personally deliver you to the Earthian police.”

He felt shit blackmailing the kid but the Captain didn’t have the energy for arguments and explanations. He needed his bed; tomorrow he could apologise and explain everything to Fyn. The Ishait stumbled down the corridor, the dim lights in the walls hurting his eyes. Stars, how had he allowed himself to get this bad? It wasn’t until Fyn had touched him that Navan had realised how deprived he was. The Captain blindly found his room, and the moment he stepped over the threshold he collapsed on his king sized bed. The door closed behind him with a soft hiss.

**14 th Myrogan 1179 (1 day later)**

**Golbahar.**

Tallin was going to be sick – he had thought that a lot for the past three months in which he was forced to be cramped in this tiny, shitty ship with one bedroom but now, looking at himself in the mirror the Prince decided – now was the time to barf.

He understood, or at least a part of him did; his parents had to take all the precautions in order to keep him safe and protected from whoever his crazy aunt sent after him but _this?!_ This was too much, even for them.

Tallin barely recognised himself in the clothes Dashyan and Tyeval had given him. His hair, normally a fiery red, was hidden underneath a long, curly black wig that fell down his chest in ringlets. His face was the same; sharp cheekbones, tanned skin and angry purple eyes, but the wig made him look more feminine; his lips seemed too big, his cheeks too rosy, his eyelashes too long. Tallin hated it. What made it worse was that he was in a _skirt._ A blue, short thing that revealed too much of his legs. He also had a stripy top that he had tucked into it. What was the need for a skirt, though?! Did Vlassain girls not wear trousers?! It was fucking horrible and embarrassing.

“Aestla,” Dashyan knocked on the bathroom door, voice teasing, “You ready?”

Tallin blushed bright red and gritted his teeth to stop himself from cussing Dashyan out. The man was nice, and kind, but right now Tal wasn’t in the mood for jokes. He was in the mood for the ground to swallow him up. Gods how he hated everyone in that moment. He hated his mother and his father, and Wyl and Zea, and his aunt Rozene for forcing him into exile, and Dashyan and Tyeval for bringing him here and _ugh..._

“Tallin,” Dashyan knocked again, his voice softer this time, “Hey, I know this is hard, but you really need to come out now. Your foster family’s waiting for you.”

Tallin exhaled and wiped tears of frustration form his eyes angrily. He didn’t get a choice in this, and maybe that was what the most upsetting part was, not the cross-dressing. Tal wished Dashyan and Tyeval had at least given him a choice of planet; all he knew about Golbahar is that a couple dozen years ago it had been invaded and that the people used to be peaceful but had abandoned their ways following the invasion. He knew Golbahar had four moons; he couldn’t remember what they were called but he knew one was a prison and one was a never-ending party. He knew that the species that lived on Golbahar were the Vlassain; part animal, part Shif creatures. That was all he knew about his new ‘home.’

 _I’m a Prince,_ Tallin straightened up and glared at his reflection, _I can do this._ The seventeen year old opened the bathroom door with the swipe of a hand. Dashyan’s aquamarine eyes danced over him and then the man bit the inside of his cheek, clearly trying not to laugh.

“This isn’t funny,” Tallin fumed at him. His partner, Tyeval, appeared at his side. The man was definitely more composed.

“The disguise is great,” he said, offering Tal a smile, “You’ll be safe here, I’m sure.”

The direness of the situation settled over Dashyan and he stopped smiling, “Hey, chin up,” he said, “This won’t be forever, only until we get Rozene under control. Until they keep your head down and don’t cause too much trouble, okay?”

Despite everything Tallin liked Dashe. Three months on this cramped ship had made the trio quite close. Tal knew he was going to miss them, but he didn’t say it out loud.

“You know how to contact _Sycamora,_ right?” Tye asked solemnly, “We’ll get here as quick as possible if anything is to-“

“I know, I know,” Tal didn’t let him finish. He had heard the spiel a dozen times already, “I’m not to try finding my parents or Wyl or Zea, I’m only to contact you or, in emergencies, _Hannibal-“_

“You know our frequencies right?” Dashyan asked. Tal rolled his eyes, nodded, straightened out his skirt. _It’s this or death,_ he thought,

“Right then.”

He exchanged an awkward look with the two men. Dashyan looked like he wanted to hug him but in their three months together Tal had made it pretty clear that he hated being overly affectionate, so instead Dash stuck out his hand.

“Was nice meeting you, Prince.”

Tal took his hand and held onto it for a little too long – he didn’t want to go. For a moment the familiar panic he felt three months ago when he was forced onto this ship returned, gripping his throat. He swallowed it down.

“You too,” he mumbled, then shook Tyeval’s hand too. The couple handed him a girly bag with some girly clothes inside it and then the door to _Sycamora_ was opening with a hiss and before Tal knew it, he was stepping out onto Golbahar.

It was beautiful. Tal had always thought Fayaxiamen was the most gorgeous planet, with it being partly underwater and full of beautiful, ethereal light and raging summer storms. But he couldn’t deny, in that moment, that Golbahar was beautiful. _Sycamora_ had landed in a little clearing in the middle of a dense forest; the trees were humongous, their trunks the size of many-story buildings back in Fayaxiamen; their canopy blocking out but a few shafts of the sunlight that were tinted amber – undoubtedly it was sunset. High up above Tallin the also considerably thick branches interlocked, creating literal bridges between the trees that had ropes on either side to prevent people from falling. And up in the trees were houses; complete structures partially melting with the trees – Tal wouldn’t have even noticed them if it wasn’t for the few golden lights blazing from some of the windows. Kids swung from the tall, tall branches; some of them had squirrel tails, other flew with bird wings. Tallin stumbled backwards, craning his neck up to see the full extent of this majestic tree-town. He barely even heard _Sycamora_ take off.

“Woah,” he whispered. He saw swings hanging from some houses, flowery porches, long, winding staircases chiselled from tree-trunks. It was all so breathtaking, like something straight out of a fairytale.

“You must be Aestla,” a warm voice sounded to Tallin’s left. Startled, the boy turned his head and saw a cluster of five people standing nearby, smiling at him. Tal blinked at them; they all looked like a family with almond-shaped, startling eyes and freckles. There was something very animalistic about all of them but Tal couldn’t think of which animal they reminded him of – the oldest looking girl stepped forward; her skin was tinted yellow, her ginger hair braided down her back –she had been the one that spoke.

 _Is this my new family?_ Tallin swallowed anxiously and touched his wig gently. The smallest boy who looked around ten years old suddenly grinned brightly. His skin, unlike his sister’s, was grey and his hair was black and spiky. From that hair sprung two pointed ears, accompanied by a short, black-tipped tail, and Tal realised what animal they were.

“Lynx,” he breathed. They were all part-lynx, but different kinds; red lynx, grey lynx, white lynx, black lynx...

“What was that?” A man that looked slightly older than Tal asked, eyes narrowing. His hair reached his shoulders and was white, but tipped in bright orange. His pale blue eyes were icy cold, and as he took Tallin in, white ears sprung from the top of his head.

“Nothing,” Tallin said quickly, feeling intimidated.

“Ignore him,” the eldest girl, the red lynx, said, smiling tiredly, “my name is Thorne Listrae, and I’m the head of this family.”

“H-Hi,” Tallin mumbled, “Uh...I’m T- I’m Aestla. Thankyou for taking me.”

Throne gestured to the clump of kids behind her, “These are my siblings. That’s Vallah,” she gestured to a girl a little younger than her, but older than Tallin. Her hair was also ginger, but interwoven with brown, her golden eyes unfocused. She gave Tal a dreamy smile and a little wave, “The grump over there is Lorcan.”

“Who you calling grump?” the white-haired lynx demanded, his tail swinging behind him.

“He and Val are twins – non identical,” Throne said, turning to Tal, “But you’d never be able to tell. Vallah’s an angel,” in reply Vallah gave her sister a misty smile and then started swaying gently. Tallin blinked at her but quickly looked away as Thorne introduced the tall grey-haired boy standing by her side, “This is my brother, suitably named Grey. He’s only a year older than you so I hope you guys get along. Then we have Archelle, or just Archie,” a blush appeared on the youngest girl’s face – like Lorcan she was a white Lynx, with her hair all long and silvery. She gave Tal a shy wave, “She’s a year younger than you. And finally we have Covi.”

As if hearing his name was some kind of trigger the youngest, raven-haired boy hurled himself forward and barged into Tal, hugging him around the waist. The Prince was more than surprised, immediately grabbing the kid’s shoulders and attempting to push him away. He _hated_ hugs.

“Get o-“

“Sorry,” Throne said quickly, grabbing her brother by the back of the hood and pulling the over-exited lynx away, “Covi’s mute; he’s just being welcoming.”

Tal felt a bit bad about trying to push a mute kid away but he quickly straightened up, “Right. So...where are your parents?”

The kids all shifted uncomfortably and the atmosphere seemed to cool a few degrees. Thorne glanced at her siblings,

“They’re dead,” she said, “but I’ve been taking care of the family for years now,” her smile was tight, “See, our mother was cousins with the mother of Thane Shinin, Dashyan’s father, so when we heard that your family was in-debt and getting hunted by the mafia we didn’t think twice about taking you in. I know this family isn’t perfect but-“

“It’s fine,” Tal blushed. He felt like a real asshole – first he was rude to a kid, then he asked about dead parents and now he was making his foster family feel bad. Gods, he was making a horrible first impression. Additionally he was outright lying to them; would Thorne be alright with him being there if she knew the truth and the true danger of the situation? He suddenly yearned for the comfort of _Sycamora,_ “I’m very grateful for your help,” Tallin mumbled, “But I’m quite tired so...”

“Right, of course,” Thorne said quickly, “Come on kids, let’s show Aestla the house.”

Lorcan shoved his hands into his pockets, heading between the trees with a pissed-off expression. Vallah didn’t move for a second and Thorne had to whisper something to her to get the girl moving – when she finally did, Val started giggling and her older sister had to hold her hand and guide her. Covi ran over and grabbed her other hand, grinning brightly and Archie floated behind them. Suddenly Tallin found himself falling behind with the grey Lynx.

“Hi,” Grey said cheerfully, sticking out his hand. It was calloused, like he spent half his days out in a field somewhere. Tallin gave him a weird look and the other boy just blinked at him, before awkwardly dropping his hand, “Right...anyway...uh, so I’m Grey,” he said, still cheerful. Something about his demeanour irked Tal so he turned on his heel and hurried after the rest of the family, “Hey!” Grey shouted after him and Tallin heard his footsteps behind him as he caught up, “Sorry!” the boy was suddenly waking by Tallin’s side, though the Prince refused to look at him, “I’m sorry if I offended you somehow, I’ve never really met anybody from Fayaxiamen, heck! Haven’t even met anybody from the Arda Galaxy!” he laughed but when Tallin didn’t respond he quickly stopped, “S-So anyway I heard you’re like a hybrid between two species, that’s pretty cool though! Read up a bit about the species that you are, a Harsonia and a Varsen right? So like, do you have tentacles or-“

“Would you _shut up?!”_ Tallin snapped, whirling on Grey. The tall boy looked down at him, surprised by Tal’s sudden outburst. The Prince couldn’t help it; Grey’s blabbering was making him annoyed.

“S-Sorry!” the Lynx held up his hands now and smiled sheepishly at Tallin, “I just got over-excited, s’all.”

“You’re irritating me,” Tal said coldly. Grey seemed even more shocked by his straight-forwardness. A blush rose to his pale cheeks and he swallowed.

“I...uh...right,” he looked away and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, “Sorry. You’re tired. I’m yammering on...,” he pointed somewhere overhead suddenly, “That’s our house.”

Tallin craned his neck up and his eyes widened. Climbing a long ladder right now was the rest of the Listrae family, heading towards a gorgeous cottage-like house that was perched on one of the flat branches. It was surrounded by stunning pink flowers that over-hung the thatched roof like a little waterfall. Small lanterns hung from thinner branches around it, illuminating the house as night fell. Actually, more lights were appearing everywhere. Tallin’s breath caught in his throat as soft, glowing lights seeped from the darkness of the trees; Vlassain hung out of now golden-lit windows, strings of lights lit up in multi-colour. There was laughter, people talking, kids getting chased home for supper, music filtering out from one of the buildings. It was breath-taking.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Grey was smiling again, as if already forgetting Tallin’s outburst. Surrounded by the beauty of the village Tal felt a little bad for snapping but he had too much pride to apologise, “The reason it’s all so high up is because this area gets completely flooded in the spring. It’s also a lot safer up in the trees.”

“Right,” Tallin mumbled.

“Hey!” Thorne yelled from above them – she and the rest of the siblings had already reached the door of their house, “Hurry up!”

Tal turned to the ladder and grasped it in his hands before quickly letting go and stepping down.

“You go first,” he told Grey, a blush appearing on his face. He pointedly smoothed down his skirt and Grey blushed too before nodding and grabbing the ladder. He was very quick on the ropes, climbing up in the blink of an eye. It seemed like an awfully long way up but Tallin climbed anyway. As he went up and up he felt the wind start to cool, brushing his hair from his face and slipping down his collar. Above him he could see Grey’s broad back, muscles rippling as he climbed. When the Lynx reached the porch of the house he offered Tallin his hand but the Prince ignored it pointedly and climbed up himself; just because he looked like a girl didn’t mean he had to be treated like one.

Grey didn’t say anything, just turned to the door of the cottage while Tal dared a quick look down. The floor of the forest died away in darkness while here, in the branches, the town boomed with light and noise. It felt like nobody could get Tallin up here. He felt his muscles relaxing; maybe his parents hadn’t made a mistake – he felt safe here.

The boy turned away from the view and stepped through the door of the cottage, closing it behind him. The main room in which he found himself was large and circular, made entirely of wood which gave it a magical, rustic feel. A soft, golden overhead lamp filled it with light and Tal registered several doors leading off to the rest of the cottage, with a staircase leading up. Already the room was filled with noise as Throne attempted to get everybody to the round table in the middle which was hard – Covi was running around as if he was possessed, Lorcan and Archie were arguing, Val was fiddling with some herbs hanging from the ceiling and Thorne herself was trying to dodge her youngest brother as she carried a big pot over to the table. Archie turned away from Lorcan and took Vallie’s hand, carefully leading the girl to her chair.

Grey came over and swiped Covi from beneath his sister’s feet, tucking him under his arm. Thorne offered him a thankful smile. It was all too much for Tallin. He missed his parents so, so much in that moment, and he had no idea where they were. _What if they’re dead...?_ the familiar, chilling though he had many times on _Sycamora_ returned and suddenly Tallin wanted to cry. He had promised Dashe he wouldn’t try to contact them, and yet he felt so confused-

“Sorry,” he said, and everyone’s heads snapped to look at him. He swallowed past his tears, “Uh...I’m not hungry, I’d just like to rest please.”

Thorne exchanged a look with Grey before nodding, “Yes, of course. Grey will take you up to your room.”

Tallin would’ve preferred for Thorne to take him but he gritted his teeth and said nothing as the other boy plopped his little brother in a chair before walking over to the stairs with a smile, “This way.”

 _Why is he always smiling?_ Tal thought darkly as he followed him, holding his duffel bag. It felt as if Tallin could never smile again, he couldn’t remember ever being happy. The Prince delved up the dark staircase, and the old wooden steps squeaked underfoot. The sound of the family dinner died away and Tallin found himself in a short, dark corridor. Three doors stood open, black like the tunnels to hell. Tal shuddered but then Grey flipped on a light in one of them. Warmth flooded out into the corridor and Grey smiled invitingly at Tallin. It was the first time the Prince really paid attention to his features; in the light his hair looked more silver than grey, his light green eyes sparkling and full of warmth. He had a dimple in his cheek. _He’s kind of handsome,_ Tallin thought, _in an awkward, farm-boy way._

He shoved past the Lynx and into the room. It was much smaller than anticipated.

“We moved Covi out so you could have this space,” Grey explained as Tallin looked around distastefully. There was a small closet, a narrow bed, a window, it was nothing like the grand, beautiful room he had back in the Briallan Palace, “You should be glad! Now Lorcan and I have to share a room with him, and he sleep talks!” Grey laughed good-naturedly but stopped when Tallin gave him a cold look. “Do you...uh...need anything?” the Lynx asked awkwardly, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.

“No,” Tallin said bluntly, turning around and grabbing the door. Immediately Grey took a step back over the threshold and Tal slammed the door shut in his face. He was relieved when he saw there was a lock on it and he turned it eagerly.

“Goodnight then,” Grey said softly from the other side of the door. Tal flinched – he though the Lynx had gone. _Better we’re not friends,_ he thought, turning away, _I might get killed, or I might leave soon. Besides, he thinks I’m Aestla._

Tallin looked at himself in the mirror hanging at the back of the door. Dejected, he slid off his wig; beneath it his crimson hair stuck up furiously. At least here, in the confines of this prison-like room, he could be himself.

He heard Grey’s footsteps padding down the stairs.


	4. When Fyn met Navan

****

**15 th Myrogan 1179 (One day later)**

**Golbahar.**

Grey’s feet padded silently on the forest floor as he ran, sweat dripping down the back of his neck. His breath was quickened and turned into a cloud in front of his face. It was summer on Golbahar but the Lynx had gone out at dawn for his morning run and so the air was chilly, though Grey didn’t feel it, his lungs aching from the effort. Above him, in the canopy the town was silent – most occupants were still asleep.

Grey got to his tree and leaned on the bark, gasping for air and allowing his racing heart to calm down. He closed his eyes and listened to the soft chirping of birds overhead. The boy stayed like that for a moment, just enjoying the sense of fulfilment that filled him. Finally, after warm sun-rays broke through the trees and stared to dance on his face, he turned to the ladder and climbed up swiftly.

He was surprised to see a lone figure sitting at the kitchen table when he opened the door, hair dark in the pale watery light filtering in through the window, dressed in socks and a bath robe.

“Good morning Aestla,” Grey said cheerfully – the girl flinched violently and whirled around, eyes wide and scared. Grey held up his hands in surrender and offered her a lopsided grin, “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.”

He pretended he wasn’t hurt when the girl’s mouth turned into a thin line and her eyes narrowed as if the sight of Grey so early in the morning was enough to dampen her mood. With a huff the girl turned back around, ignoring Grey’s greeting. She was being rude and yet Grey refused to act the same way back; Aestla was probably afraid and awkward, after all she was away from her family and on a strange planet...

“Would you like some herbal brew?” Grey asked politely, walking to the kettle on the counter. Aestla wrinkled her nose.

“No, we don’t have that on Fayaxiamen,” she said, a little snobbish. Grey liked her voice because it didn’t really fit her pretty, dainty appearance; it was deeper and rough, as if she had been smoking a lot. It was a good voice.

“Well isn’t it nice to try new things?” Grey asked with a laugh, pulling out two mugs. Running always put him in a good mood and no amount of attitude from Aestla was going to change that. Grey hummed as he prepared the brew, dropping little bags of herbs and spices into their cups and then filling it up with hot water. He placed one in front of Aestla and then slid into the seat opposite her.

The girl eyed up the cup in distaste and gave Grey a weird look. The Lynx couldn’t help but think that her eyes were exquisite; a deep, mysterious purple that Grey had never seen on anyone before.

“Don’t be scared of the cup,” Grey teased. Aestla glared at him and then suddenly grasped he mug, “Wait-“ Grey started, but it was too late; the girl took a swig and then quickly slammed the mug back down.

“Hot!” she gasped, pressing a hand over her mouth.

“Sorry!” Grey rushed to the sink and filled a glass with cold water before offering it to the girl, “I didn’t-“

Aestla grabbed the glass and drank the water, and then turned her steely glare back towards Grey, “Are you purposefully trying to make me hate you?!” she demanded, “or are you trying to hurt me?!”

“No!” Grey protested, “No, sorry, I thought you realised it was-“

“You’re despicable!” the girl spat. Grey’s heart twisted – everyone always liked him and he was always kind to everyone, he didn’t judge or make fun of people and he never hurt anybody on purpose, so why did this girl dislike him so much? Grey felt a blush of shame spread over his cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, looking away. A heavy, tense silence settled over the two of them until Aestla abruptly stood up.

“I’m going back to my room!” she proclaimed loudly, pulling her bathrobe more tightly around herself before storming off down the stairs, ensuring she was making plenty of noise. Grey sighed and looked dejectedly at the two cups still on the table. He slid back into his chair and took a tentative sip of his brew.

“Ouch,” he mumbled when it burned his tongue – he wouldn’t be able to taste anything for ages, and neither would Aestla. Grey rubbed a hand down his face; in moments like this he wished he could care less what people thought of him and if they liked him or not, but it was hard. Grey just wanted everyone to be happy.

“What was that ruckus about?” Thorne appeared on the stairs, descending slowly and rubbing sleep out of her blue eyes. Her ginger hair tumbled to her waist in curls and she was still in her pyjamas.

“Sorry,” Grey said, “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“It was Aestla, wasn’t it?” Thorne sat down with her brother at the table and yawned before picking up the cup Aestla had abandoned, “That girl is trouble, I can tell.”

“I think she’s just scared and confused,” Grey interjected.

“You’re naive, Grey; Aestla is spoiled, anyone can see that, and you’re always too kind to everyone,” Thorne looked very tired in that moment, “So many people have already done you wrong and yet you continue to have faith in them...,” she shook her head, “I don’t know how you do it.”

Grey shrugged and watched his older sister drink the brew he had made for Aestla, “I don’t like being pessimistic.”

“It’s realism, Grey,” Thorne said tightly, “You need to realise that not all people are s good and lovely as you are, and that girl definitely isn’t,” Thorne looked up at the ceiling pointedly, “But anyway I have to get her to work somehow, though I have a feeling she won’t like it – she looks like she hasn’t done a day of honest work in her life.”

“I’ll teach her,” Grey volunteered immediately, “I’ll take her to work, I don’t mind.”

Thorne walked over and had to reach up to ruffle her little brother’s silver hair, “Yeesh, you’re all sweaty,” she wiped her palm on her tattered jeans, “Hit the showers kid.” She squeezed his shoulder and then shooed him away.

Grey crept upstairs and into his bedroom, stepping over the bodies of his sleeping brothers on the floor and quietly pulling out fresh clothes. When Grey got in the shower he turned the water on lukewarm, not wanting to use up all the hot one and have Aestla complain later. As the water rained over his tight muscles the boy closed his eyes and thought about the upcoming day. Like most of the Vlassain in the village, the Listrae’s were farmers, and they lived off agriculture. Ever since Grey was fourteen he had been working, dropping out of school in order to help his family. His parents died when he was ten; a land mine down by the beach. It had been the festival season and the family had all gone, their last moments together...

 Thorne sacrificed her life for the family after that, and Grey would be eternally grateful to her. She gave up school, she gave up travelling, just so she could take care of her younger siblings. She never had a boyfriend, didn’t have time for friends – she was the one who mended Grey’s socks and helped Covi with his homework, and braided Archie’s long hair every day even though it would’ve been easier to cut it. She dealt with Lorcan’s mood-swings and was patient enough to explain thing to Vallie over and over. She didn’t get angry at Covi for not listening. Grey knew Lorcan would leave soon, and when Archie was old enough so would she. Covi...well, it was too early to tell. Vallah would always stay here, with Thorne, because she couldn’t do things by herself. And Grey...he was resigned to staying too. It was unfair if Thorne had to do everything alone for the rest of her life, it was unfair that everyone else got to experience things and she didn’t. The cottage wasn’t much – the roof leaked and the heating didn’t work in the winter time. Things needed fixing. But Grey didn’t mind staying; he was simple. Going for runs, and staying in this cottage, seeing his family and maybe, hopefully, finding a nice Vlassain to settle down with was enough for him. A simple life.

He shut the water off and stepped out of the bath tub. The house was slowly waking up; Grey could hear Val humming from the girls’ bedroom and Lorcan and Covi stirring in theirs. When he opened the door the delicious smell of breakfast floated upwards. _Cheer up, Grey,_ he told himself, _life isn’t bad._

***

 “ I don’t see why I have to work,” Aestla complained, and Grey happily ignored her as he walked between the humongous tree trunks down the familiar pathway through the woods. Behind him the girl continued to complain – thankfully she had decided to take breakfast up in her room earlier so the family didn’t have to listen to her whine over their food, “My parents are paying you to take care of me, yes? So then _why_ am I being treated like some cheap labourer?!”

“It’s for your own safety,” Grey replied patiently, “the more you fit into the community, the less you stand out, the safer you are. Besides, it might be good for you to learn a thing or two.”

“Oh please,” Aestla crossed her arms over her chest. In front of him, Grey could see Lorcan clenching his hands into fists. The white Lynx had a short temper and Grey was sure that sooner or later their ‘guest’ would piss him off, and probably end up crying when Lorcan graced her with a well-put-together bouquet of insults. Thankfully today was not going to be that day; the trees began to thin out, warm sunlight falling onto the Listrae’s as they rounded the corner. A golden field appeared in front of them, shimmering as if it were the sea – they were to first to get there, good. Soon it’d get crowded.

“What are we doing here?” Aestla asked, and Grey noticed that her purple eyes filled with just a little bit of wonder. He hid his smile behind his hand.

“We’re harvesting, _obviously,”_ Lorcan grumbled. Grey offered the girl one of the two woven baskets he had been carrying. She gave him a hesitant look before clenching her mouth in a tight line and snatching the basket away.

“Well?” she demanded, cheeks flushed, “How do I do it?”

“Okay, so you see this field?” Grey began explaining as Archie, Lorcan and Covi abandoned them in favour of wadding waist-deep into the field. It was made up of puff-like flowers that were gold and grew on long, thin stalks.

“Yes, I see the bloody field,” Aestla snapped. Grey grinned; the girl was kind of adorable so it was hard to take her annoyance seriously. _Wait did I just think she was adorable?_ Grey blushed and pointedly looked only at the field.

“U-Uh so,” he cleared his throat, “It’s made up on Juna flowers – those are the puffs, um, t-they’re really helpful for like medicine and stuff and they only grow in this part of Golbahar, so you have to hunt them-“

“Hunt?!” Aestla demanded, “I’m not hunting weeds.”

“Yeah, well-“

Grey didn’t get to finish because just then Lorcan ducked down and grabbed a step, yanking it out of the ground. Immediately the Juna flower he pulled out started to expand like a fluffy balloon, growing golden.

“What the-“

Aestla stumbled back  - the Juna flower started to lift Lorcan off the ground but then the man just blew on it and shrank back. His feet hit the floor and with a soft ‘ _tsk’_ he tossed the flower into his basket. Just then Covi pulled a flower up. Aestla watched the whole process again and Grey watched her; her soft-looking lips parting in shock, those stunning purple eyes widening, cheeks flushing. The golden light from the flowers danced off her high cheekbones. _Pretty,_ Grey thought, _arrogant and stuck up, but definitely pretty._

“So you see, the harvesting is pretty self-explanatory,” Grey grinned at the girl. She glared at him in return.

“I can see that,” she said, clearly fuming, and then stomped off into the field. Moments later Grey watched as she was lifted into the air by one of the flowers and started screaming for help. As Grey jogged to pull her back down he decided that he would do everything in his power to make this girl like him.

**(The same day)**

**_The Mnemosyne._ **

Fyn kept his head down as he mopped the floor in the East Wing. _The Mnemosyne_ was a huge ship and just cleaning the floors was taking him forever. _Should’ve stayed on Earth, idiot,_ Fynley thought to himself as his arms ached. He leaned the mop on the wall and exhaled, giving himself a small break. Glancing around to ensure nobody was coming down the poorly-lit hallway, Fyn took a step towards one of the windows. It was big, bigger than him, and oval, sticking out of the side of the ship like the eye of a bug. Fynley shuffled close up to the glass and pressed his hands over it, before looking out at the galaxy. An innocent, child-like smile appeared on his plain face and he pushed his brown hair out of his eyes so he could see better. He had never seen anything but the dark, scary streets of Earth, and now he had the galaxy stretched out right in front of him. He had been stuck to the windows for half his shift.

The galaxy was dormant still. The stars were frozen mid-twinkle, the curling clouds suspended around Arossa. Planets remained motionless, ships immobile save for one in the distance that was zooming through the space – confused about this when it happened a few hours ago a terrified Fyn had stopped a crew member and asked what was happening. The Shif woman he spoke to kindly explained to him that Wien was creating time for their ship alone – he was sliding additional days between the ones that already existed for _Mnemosyne_ so she could get to the Eon Galaxy before the deadline. As Fynley watched that little, lone ship in the distance he realised that there must have been a time-maker on-board as well. Fyn smiled; that little ship made him feel a little less alone.

 _You need to work,_ Fyn reminded himself, breaking away from the glass and hurriedly grabbing his mop – he’d be able to watch the galaxy later, when he was back in the little cabin he had been assigned. But right now he had to prove he was useful; if he didn’t clean _Mnemosyne_ well enough he’d have to return to Earth... But that wasn’t his biggest problem in that moment – the biggest problem was what would happen very, very soon between him and the Captain.

Fynley squeezed his eyes shut, fighting his nausea. His pale fingers clenched around the handle of his mop. How did this happen? _Why_ did this happen? His short life had already been traumatizing and horrifying, didn’t he get a shot at happiness? _No, you don’t deserve one, you’re just a clone,_ Fyn swallowed hard. He knew what the Captain wanted; even though the clone was naive and uneducated about most things he did know a lot about sex, because that had been his purpose. His creator had made him as a sex-doll substitute for some boy he murdered; that boy’s name had been Tarlo. It was what Rohan had called him but Fyn wasn’t Tarlo – they just had the same face.

Fynley opened his eyes, heart pounding in anxiety. For a moment he wasn’t in the dark hallway of _Mnemosyne_ with the galaxy spread out of him, but back in that dirty, disgusting basement, back with _him..._

Fyn bent over suddenly and violently vomited into the self-cleaning slop bucket. His throat burned and he squatted down, burying his face in his arms and fighting a sob. Emotions crashed over him with no warning. He’d have to do it again, wouldn’t he? Or the Captain would send him back to Earth and he’d be killed. A sob bubbled in Fynley’s throat – he was a clone, wasn’t he supposed to not feel anything like the half-machine people from Saarashik? So why was he so scared? He wished he had a friend, a family member, anyone he could turn to but he was alone, alone in this whole entire galaxy.

“Hey,” a tentative, gruff, deep voice sounded, “Hey, kid, you alright?”

Fynley looked up at who had spoken and he was so surprised that he blinked the tears out of his eyes. There was a man standing by the opposite wall, far away as if scared to freak Fyn out. He was small and fat, dressed in a blue mechanic uniform. He looked to be in his forties, and his body hair was definitely impressive. His beady eyes were fixated on Fyn and filled with awkwardness. The most prominent thing about the man were his two front teeth which stuck over his bottom lip, as well as the flat tail that anxiously tapped on the ground behind him. The man’s bizarrely small hands were fiddling anxiously in front of him. He looked awfully like a beaver and his name-tag read ‘Illes.’ _I wonder what species that is..._

“I-I’m fine,” Fyn managed, unable to stop staring which seemingly just made Illes feel more awkward.

“You’re Fynley, right?” the beaver muttered, “Our new janitor?”

“Y-Yeah, that’s me!” Fyn jumped to his feet, remembering his place. He was taller than Illes but the man seemed used to that.

“Captain’s asking for you.”

Fyn’s stomach tumbled down and laid flopping next to the mop bucket – metaphorically at least, “W-Why?”

“Shit kid, I don’t know,” Illes shrugged, “Ship’s looking spick and span so doubt it’s to fire you,” he scratched at the mop of hair on top of his head.

“I-I don’t know where I’m going,” Fyn squeaked.

“Eh,” Illes tapped the floor with his tail and suddenly little lights appeared beneath Fynley’s feet, leading off around the corner, “ _Mnemosyne_ isn’t a memory ship for nothing. She remembers the way,” Illes turned away, “Go on, the lights will take you where you need to be.”

Before Fyn knew it, he was alone. He looked at the lights, soft and blue like willow-o-wisps. Their appearance made it seem as if _Mnemosyne_ was alive all around him, looking over him. Except where she was leading him wasn’t a good place...

The first light by his feet flickered out, reminding him it’s time to go. Scared he’d lose the way, Fynley hurried down the path of lights, rounding the corner. The ship was like a maze of steel walls, sliding doors and galaxy-filled windows. Occasionally laughter drifted towards Fyn, or the sound of a computer communication, or music playing from someone’s cabin but he felt detached from all those noises – this ship wasn’t his home, he was someone who worked backstage, part of the shadows. And now he would quietly do what the Captain required him to do in order to keep himself alive.

What a horrible existence.

After almost a ten minute walk the lights finally veered left and Fyn found himself in a short, dead-end corridor with a potted plant in the corner, a window and a single door. The lights flickered out by the door.

“Thankyou,” Fyn told the ship – it might’ve not been an alive being, and he might’ve hated coming to this door, but she had gotten her job done well. Many people argued Fynley wasn’t a living being either – clones weren’t human.

He didn’t have time to waste and although he wanted to stand in that corridor for eternity and never go through that door it was just something he couldn’t do. So he walked up and knocked on the metal, and it slid open without hesitation. Maybe _Mnemosyne_ really was alive. It was a comforting thought.

Fynley stepped into the bedroom and the door closed with a soft hiss behind him. For just a second he forgot his troubles and his heart seized in his chest because on the wall directly opposite him was a large window, past which he saw the gorgeous, purple galaxy. Fyn doubted he’d ever get use to the fact that it was so close. There was nothing between him and the stars but glass, and Fyn imagined he could run across the spacious room and just jump out, floating among star-dust. Nobody would mind, would they? Nobody would miss a clone...

“Hey.”

The Captain’s voice was soft and raspy. Fyn broke his eyes away from the window and looked at the man, who was sitting on a large double bed, silky black sheets pooled around his waist. His dark purple hair was messy and he wasn’t wearing a shirt, exposing his brown, muscular chest. His unnerving eyes, black where they should’ve been white, were resting on Fynley. The clone swallowed but somehow he wasn’t so scared anymore – this would never be as bad as what Rohan did to him anyway.

“Hello,” Fynley replied, proud that his voice was steady, “Do you want me to take my clothes off?”

The Captain blinked at him, a little taken aback, “Er...yeah, if you want. I thought you’d change before.”

Only then Fynley remembered that he was still wearing the grey overalls in which he worked. He looked down at himself, swallowed, and then undid the zipper, sliding it down to his stomach before slipping the top half of his body out. Underneath he wore just a loose white t-shirt and boxers. He felt himself blushing now as he stepped out of the overalls and folded them neatly before padding over to the bed and putting it on the bedside table.

“Come on then,” The Captain peeled back the covers and slid down so he was lying on his side. Fynley tried not to show his fear as he climbed into the bed, avoiding eye-contact with the Ishait. Unsure of what the older man wanted him to do, Fyn just mirrored his position, laying on his side to face the Captain even if he wasn’t looking at him.

_Just don’t make it hurt._

The Ishait carefully draped the covers over Fynley.

“I’m sorry if this is a little awkward,” he said. The clone couldn’t reply. His hands trembled so he pushed them underneath the pillows.

The Captain reached out and placed a big, warm hand on Fyn’s cheek. Surprised the boy found himself looking up. The Captain’s eyes, despite the black sclera, looked warm and kind, and very sleepy. Fynley didn’t know what to do as the other man gently brushed his thumb over the Shif’s cheek. Nobody had ever touched Fyn with tenderness before and he wasn’t sure how to react.

“Captain-“ he started uncertainly.

“You can just call me Navan, or Nav,” the Captain murmured. Fynley swallowed, cheeks burning.

“N-Navan then,” he mumbled, “I...uh...”

He didn’t get to finish because Navan slid closer. Underneath the covers he pushed his leg up against Fyn’s. The clone tensed but allowed Nav to tangle their legs together watching as the Captain’s face melted into something resembling relief, eyes fluttering shut. Fyn didn’t understand him; was this foreplay? The clone preferred if the man just got on with it; he wanted it to be over quickly.

“So your name’s Fynley, right?” Navan asked suddenly, eyes opening. Fyn nodded, “Did you name yourself that?” Another nod, “Why ‘Fynley’?”

“I-It was the first name I saw,” Fyn said, “W-When I went outside.”

“Outside?” Nav’s brow furrowed. Fynley didn’t feel like remembering so he continued quickly.

“It was a store. It said ‘Fynley’s Fish Market,’ and so I...”

Navan grinned, “You named yourself after a fish market?”

“S-Shhh,” Fyn mumbled, embarrassed. Nav chuckled and his hand moved down to Fyn’s neck, resting gently against the side.

“Hey, at least it’s a good story,” the Captain said, and Fyn couldn’t help but tentatively smile back at him. The Ishait looked really sleepy now and Fynley squeaked when he suddenly felt an arm slide underneath him and wrap around his back.

“Shush,” Nav murmured, pulling him close. Fynley’s heart started to pound violently in his chest, “Here,” with his free hand Navan pulled one of Fyn’s from underneath the pillows and pressed it to his own cheek. The man could feel Nav’s stubble under his palm, “Touch me too.”

The clone’s mouth felt dry and he didn’t know what to do so he just kept his hand on the Captain’s cheek. Navan’s eyes slid shut and suddenly he hauled Navan closer, so the clone was pressed flushed against his muscular chest. Fyn knew he was bright red.

“You’re really skinny,” Nav mumbled.

“S-Sorry!” Fyn blurted. Rohan had liked to keep him that way.

Nav laughed, his breath brushing against Fynley’s forehead and making him forget about his creator, “It’s okay, it’s not a bad thing.”

Then he kissed Fyn’s forehead. The clone’s heart seized up and he almost gasped. One of Navan’s hands slid into his hair and the man slowly carded his fingers through it. _Why is he stroking my hair?_ Fyn thought helplessly, _Why is he kissing my forehead?_ He didn’t hate it, he really, really didn’t hate it.

Confused, Fynley pressed his face into the Captain’s shoulder, arms coming up to hug the man back. Whatever Navan wanted from him Fyn didn’t care anymore because he had not been hugged ever and it made him feel like he wasn’t alone, like someone was going to protect him.

“You can go when I fall asleep,” Nav said, words already slurred.

 _Oh stars,_ Fynley’s eyes widened, because it was only then that he realised, _He’s not going to have sex with me._

Fyn laid there, shocked, staring at the window over the Captain’s shoulder. He tried to remember what the man had said to him yesterday, in the corridor – something about how his species needed touch to survive...well, was this enough? Fynley’s eyes fluttered shut. _This isn’t so bad,_ he decided, relaxing in Navan’s arms. The Ishait’s fingers stroked is hair slower and slower until finally they stopped, Nav’s hand cradling Fyn’s head into his shoulder.

.

.

.

...Fynley jerked awake. He had not meant to fall asleep. _Shit, shit, shit..._ he blinked sleep out of his eyes and shook off the heavy warmth in his bones, un-plastering himself from his boss. He had no idea how much time had passed – the galaxy outside was still frozen as _Mnemosyne_ leisurely swam through it, and Navan-

Was still asleep. Fyn exhaled in relief and carefully untangled his legs from the other man’s. Sleeping, the Captain looked relaxed and at peace, and younger somehow, despite the stubble on his cheeks. He looked healthier too. Fyn smiled – he was glad he could be of use to someone. He was glad he wasn’t going to be hurt like that again. Carefully he stood up from the bed and picked up his overalls from the bedside table, hugging them to his chest as he slipped through the bedroom. At the door he paused and glanced at the gorgeous galaxy, then at the sleeping, relaxed form of Navan who had now sprawled himself across most of the bed and was snoring loudly. Fyn smiled.

The door opened with a gentle hiss and Fynley went back out into the corridor. It wasn’t until he made it back into his cabin that he fully comprehended what had happened. Relieved beyond belief, the clone crumpled onto his narrow bed and pressed his face into the pillow. He closed his eyes. Navan was a good person after-all. _See,_ Fyn smiled into the pillow, a blush creeping up his cheeks, _the world isn’t just full of bad people._

Fyn climbed under his covers and pulled them up to his chin and within moments he was asleep.

This time he woke up more slowly, his mind groggy and heavy as the world swam into existence. The Shif had no idea how long he had been out for but there was a clear commotion outside. _Heck,_ the boy thought, _what if I’m late for my shift?!_ He scrambled out of bed and almost whacked his head on the shelf hanging above it before he clumsily tugged on his overalls. A quick glance in the mirror above his sink told him that he still looked like crap, with sleepy eyes and messy, overgrown hair. The boy quickly pushed the hair over his face and then exited the room, ignoring the growling of his stomach – he hadn’t eaten since yesterday morning.

In the corridor he bumped into two of the crew members, both of them were women. The first one Fyn recognised as the girl who had explained the concept of time making to him the day before – half her head was shaved, the other half pulled into a messy blonde and blue bun. She was tall and muscular, an axe strapped to her back, a piece of toast in her mouth. Next to her was a bizarre looking girl with all-white eyes, deep blue skin an green hair pulled up into a ponytail. Underneath said ponytail Fyn swore he saw tentacles.

“L-Lieja, right?” Fynley blurted as the women ran past. The Shif girl – Lieja – stopped in her tracks and blinked for a second before recognising Fyn.

“Oh!” she pulled the toast from her lips, getting crumbs everywhere, “You’re the new janitor, right?”

“Yeah,” Fyn awkwardly tapped the name tag on his chest, “Fyn.”

“Right. Hi, Fyn. This is Tiranë,” she pointed to the fishy-looking girl next to her, “but you can just call her Tira. She’s Peek, and she doesn’t speak.”

Tira gave Fyn a little wave. Her fingers were webbed. Fyn uncertainly waved back.

“Uh..s-so, do you guys know what the commotion is about?”

“Ya,” Lieja nodded, “We’re in the Eon galaxy and our client’s coming up to us right now for the Wipe.”

 Tira slapped herself in the forehead and then nudged Lieja, “Right. Shit. Client. You need anything, kid?”

“N-No,” Fyn stuttered. _Client?_

“Okay, come with if you want,” Lieja said, and then she and Tira were running off again. Fynley hesitated for a second but he had to admit he was curious about the whole ‘memory wipers’ thing; it was just such a weird job. So the janitor raced after the two girls – thankfully he didn’t have to go far because after two minutes the two burst through a large double door and Fyn found himself in a big, oval room. The floor was made of some sort of see-through material so the boy slapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his scream of terror as he thought, for a second, that he was free-falling through the galaxy.

Everyone else in the room looked solemn, unaffected by the miles and miles of empty space between them, littered with stars and planets like some kid’s art project. There were maybe half a dozen people gathered about – Fyn saw Wien and Illes the Beaver and, of course, Navan. His heart skipped a beat at the sight of the Captain; Fyn had to admit the Ishait looked better already, skin all sun-kissed and purple hair pushed out of his face. He had shaved and changed into a long leather trench coat that made him look like a real pirate Captain. The smiley, sleepy man that had cuddled Fyn what seemed like minutes earlier was replaced by a stoic professional.

There was a chair in the centre of the room with a big, pointy, drill-like machine staring right at it. Tira went to it and flipped some switches, so a hum filled the room. The rest of the crew moved about and swiped through holograms shimmering in the air, pressing buttons and getting machinery ready. Fyn hung back in the corner, a little scared and very out of place. Lieja came forward with a small wooden box.

“Alright,” Nav spoke suddenly, “Bring the client in.”

A door on the opposite side of the room opened and an incredibly tall creature walked in, escorted by someone from the crew. Fyn swallowed and took a step back subconsciously. The creature didn’t look even a little bit human; its face was long and narrow, hairless, its only features two diagonal lines that Fyn thought might’ve been eyes. The creature had four long arms, its pale green body hidden beneath a gown. It swayed as it walked to the chair before sitting.

“Tre’da Da’eha L-ung Fi Ha’ee,” Nav spoke suddenly, and the language was so bizarre that Fyn recoiled – it seemed to be the weird creature’s name, “State your purpose.”

A soft, gorgeous, surprising hum came from the creature and above it flickered a translation in a dozen different languages. Fyn quickly found Faso. **_I, TRE’DA DA’EHA L-UNG FI HA’EE, AM HERE TO WIPE MY MEMORY FROM THE DAY OF 15 TH FOROGHAL 1178._**

“Do we have your consent to wipe your memory?” Nav continued in a measured voice.

The hum came again, making Fyn shiver and words appeared. **_YOU HAVE MY CONSENT._**

Navan inclined his head at Tira, “Then in front of these seven-,” his eyes slid to Fyn for the first time then, “eight, witnesses, we take your memory.”

The machine turned on. An electric blue light filled the room and Fyn backed up with a gasp, though he seemed to be the only one moved by the scene. The light hit the creature and broke into hundreds of what looked like glass shards around it, spinning slowly in the air. The creature sat, unmoving, as the glass flickered with scenes from what Fyn assumed was the 15th of Foroghal 1178. For some reason he felt as if he were imposing on something personal and he dropped his gaze, heart clenching.

That’s when Lieja stepped forward, the box in her hands. Nav nodded at her and she opened the box – the second she did the shards flew at it, disappearing inside. She closed the lid. The machine switched off, the blue light disappeared. Just like that, it was all over. Fyn blinked and looked around and the slightly dazed creature stood up, swaying more than before.

“Let us discuss the payment,” he said and he and the creature disappeared into the same door the creature had entered.

Tira yawned, Lieja pulled the toast out of her pocket and popped it in her mouth. Someone started chattering. It was as if nothing had happened. Shell-shocked, Fyn remained against the wall as everyone started to filter out of the room.

“Nice one, kid,” Wien waddled up to him and patted him on the knee, since it was the most accessible to him, “You’ve seen your first Wipe. Now clean this room up, Fearn didn’t clean his goddamn boots again.” He pointed to mud-tracks on the floor.

Fynley found himself alone. He looked around the room, then down at his feet. Just below him was an aquamarine planet, swirling with orange clouds. Domaru. Fyn touched the name-tag on his overalls.

Was it that easy to get rid of the past?

Was it possible for him to forget everything Rohan Alif had done to him? Was it possible to forget that he was just a pale imitation of Tarlo?

**17 th Myrogan 1179 (2 days later)**

**Rum.**

Technically it wasn’t Aro’s shift yet, so _why_ in the _fuck_ was Tuvian sending him outside to deal with that angry religous mob _again?_ Eye-twitching, the huge Ishait pushed through the entry-way of the _Thirteen Fragments_ and got to the front door. He hadn’t even properly started working yet since it was still ‘daytime’ and the Golds were on, but he still had to deal with this bullshit. He honestly hoped Tuvian would pay him for his troubles this time.

The pissed-off guard slammed the front door open and came face-to-face with a furious mob of Ishaits. They were all shouting over each other, so loud that they were definitely scaring off potential customers.

“What?!” Aros yelled, effectively silencing them. Maybe it was his brooding demeanour, or his impressive size, or the big gun at his back, but the mob respectfully took a step back from the front steps of the _Thirteen Fragments,_ “What are you lot complaining about again?!”

There was a tense moment of silence and the mob exchanged hesitant looks. It was rainy and they were all wet, glimmering in the flashing neon sign above them. Then an Ishait man stepped forward. He was tall, with hair and beard as black as his sclera.

“Brother!” he proclaimed, “Quinae teaches us that man shall lie with a woman, and they shall have two children, a boy and a girl, to keep the balance of the universe-

“First of all,” Aros almost groaned in annoyance. Why was his species so religous and superstitious? “I am _not_ your brother. Second of all, the teachings of Quinae are none of my business, or the business of this establishment, so care to tell me why you’re on our damn doorsteps, scaring away customers?”

The man’s nostrils flared, “Brother!” he yelled, ignoring Aro’s comment. The guard rolled his eyes, “You know what establishment this is! You know what filth and sin those within wallow in! See the way of Quinae-“

“If you are suggesting that the _Thirteen Fragments_ is a brothel, then you are wrong, sir,” Aro stood up straighter and put a threatening hand on his gun, which got the Ishait whispering and nervously taking a step back. Aros wouldn’t shoot them anyway, they were just stupid, religous freaks with too much time on their hands, “This is a simple dance-club because, as you know, the Sonic Law forbids anybody in the Cairn Galaxy from soliciting prostitution.”

“And they are right!” the leader roared, getting himself a cheer from his followers, “To lie with many is an abomination! It brings instability to the universe-“

“Yes, I heard you the first eight times!” Aro snapped, “Listen, my boss wants you off our front-porch, and honestly I was already bored of your religous rambling three days ago. We’re not a brothel, and you’re not on Calliban. This is Rum, there is sin all around you! Go bother someone else or...,” Aros pulled his gun from his back. The leader’s jaw clenched.

“You will regret this, my brother,” he said, “You will see the way of Quinae-“

A whisper went through the crowd suddenly and eyes turned to look behind Aros. The guard turned too, more out of habit than anything, and saw Kaio leaning on the door casually, eating an apple. He was grinning lazily at the mob, dressed in a practically see-through white shirt that fell to his mid-thigh and nothing else.

“Oh for stars’ sake,” Aro hissed, but it was too late.

“Whore!” the leader yelled.

“Blasphemy!” came another shout. Kaio grinned, clearly amused by this, and gave the crowd a dainty little wave, causing more outraged shouts. Aro could’ve strangled him.

“Get back inside,” he commanded. Kaio gave him a pointed look and then, to Aros’ horror, sashayed towards them, swaying his hips all enticingly and shit. Aro’s jaw clenched but he couldn’t grab Kai fast enough.

“Why, sir,” Kaio batted his eye-lashes at the leader, and, in front of everyone, began to change shape. Aro hated when Kai did that. Right in front of his eyes the Zalian became a sexy, dark-haired Ishait woman, “I am no whore,” he whispered in a sultry, feminine voice. Aro almost face-palmed.

“Damn you, shape-shifting slut!” the leader bellowed, “Damn you to Quinae!”

Kaio started laughing and changed back to himself. He tossed the core of his finished apple at the feet of the mob-leader, “Take the stick from up your ass, grandpa,” he said, turning away.

Everything happened very fast then. A hand shot out from the crowd and grabbed the back of Kaio’s shirt, jerking him into the mob. Aro had time to register the surprised look on the Zalian’s face before he disappeared among the Ishait.

“Kaio!” Aros yelled – the past few days the mob had been annoying, but they had never been violent before. Tuvian was going to murder Aro if something happened to his best dancer. Without thinking twice the guard raised his gun and fired thrice into the dark sky of Rum. Some passerby’s screamed and most of them pulled out their own weapons, pointing at the mob, which broke apart. Panting, the Ishait looked around wildly in search of Kaio but he was...gone.

 _Stars, this guy’s more trouble than he’s worth,_ Aro thought as he reached into the crowd and pulled out the only smiling Ishait by the hood of his cape. The Ishait turned back into Kaio before Aros had even reached the door.

“Go the fuck home!” the guard yelled at the still confused mob, before slamming the door shut in their faces. Immediately he shoved Kai up against it

It was dark, it smelled of smoke and Aros could hear the thundering music coming from the main club-room.

“What the fuck was that?” he demanded in a low, growling voice, leaning in close and personal to Kaio, which was hard since the dancer barely reached Aro’s shoulder. The Zalian glared up at the Ishait with hi angry aquamarine eyes.

“Let go of me,” he hissed. Only then Aros noticed that he was pining the boy to the door with his arm. _Damn him for making me lose my composure,_ Aro thought sourly, releasing the boy from his grip. He didn’t let him get off that easy though.

“Did you think that was funny?” he demanded, “They could have probably killed you.”

“Oh well, big deal,” Kaio rolled his eyes. Aro noticed that he already had a small purple bruise forming on his pale cheek.

“Brilliant,” the guard growled, grabbing him by the chin and examining his face, “Now I’m going to get into trouble because pretty-boy can’t keep himself flawless for the customers.”

“Relax,” Kaio grumbled and Aro watched as the bruise faded to nothing, “See? All healed up,” Kai pushed his hand off and ducked around him, heading or the stairs. Aro grabbed him by his pale wrist and forced the boy to face him; he roughly pressed his thumb to where the bruise had been moments ago and Kai winced.

“It’s not healed, you’ve just hidden it.”

“Whatever,” Kai pulled his wrist free, clearly getting irritate, “It’s none of your business.”

“This whole thing is my business,” Aro tired to remain calm, “Protecting all you dancers is my priority. You could at least thank me for saving you out there.”

Kaio snorted and looked Aros up and down. The guard hated when he did that; looked at him like he was vermin. Chi, the oldest of the dancers, had explained to him that for some reason Kai hated ugly people and Aro knew he was one of them – not that he much cared. Still, he’d appreciate it if the fucking asshole showed him some respect.

“I was doing fine by myself,” the Zalian said coldly.

“They were right,” Aros kept his voice impassive, not letting his anger or irritation show. It was the only way he’d have the upper-hand against Kai, “You _are_ a whore.”

Kai raised an aquamarine eyebrow mockingly, “Is that supposed to hurt me?” he chuckled, “Don’t amuse me, H’ai, and let’s not pretend like I’m a whore you could ever afford.”

“You’re not _that_ expensive.”

Kaio snickered. Aro hated that the boy wasn’t taking him seriously.

“What’s so funny, Muji?”

“Seriously how long have we been at this?” the man shook his head, “You’re pathetic, H’ai. Pathetic and ugly. You like pretty things though, don’t you?” he cocked his head to the side, “that’s why you kissed me when we were little, remember?”

Embarrassment flared up in Aro’s chest at the memory but he remained expressionless. Back then, when he had first met Kaio, he had been afraid and alone, coming back from being a child-soldier. And Kai had been so...pretty. All aquamarine hair and sparkling blue eyes and pale skin and...and Aro had just kissed him. He still remembered what Kai told him back then, right after pushing him away. _You’re disgusting. Why would I ever want to kiss someone so ugly?_

“Is that supposed to hurt me?” Aro mimicked Kai’s earlier words and watched the man’s blue eyes darken in anger, “Back then I thought you were pretty, that was until I found out your personality was like opening up a can of worms. Rotten.”

“Bet you’d still fuck me though,” Kai hissed, anger obvious in his words and face. Aro liked him angry, because it meant that he had the upper hand. He fought a smirk as Kai craned his neck up to look at him, “Bet if you had the money you’d pay me to let you.”

Aro raised an eyebrow, “You Is that a challenge or an invitation?”

Kaio laughed, “You can’t afford me.”

“I will be able to by the end of the month,” Aros replied evenly. The moment the words were out of his mouth he knew it was a mistake. Kai’s eyes narrowed, “I wouldn’t even need your permission or consent; I’d just have you, like everyone else in this place.”

“We’ll see,” Kaio’s eyes chilled and his jaw clenched, “I have a job to do,” he shoved past Aro and disappeared up the stairs.

When the guard was sure that the dancer had gone he slumped against the wall and rubbed a hand down his face.

“Shit.”

He had thought about fucking Kai a hundred times; in fact the dancer’s was something that Aro frequently and eagerly got off to. Endlessly he had fantasised about wiping the smirk off that asshole’s face, about making him cry and scream, about hurting him. He also fantasised about gripping handfuls of that perfect, pale ass in his hands, of seeing that narrow back arch...He wanted the upper hand, and now he had the opportunity; if he really saved up he’d be able to buy Kaio at the start of next month, but it’d be hard and Aros would have to cut down on a lot of things...

 _Whatever,_ the man thought glumly, _this is about pride. I’ll fuck him, and he’ll hate it and then he’ll hate me, and I’ll always have the upper hand after that._


	5. When Hamelin met the President

****

**19 th Myrogan 1179 (2 days later)**

**Aghamora.**

Hamelin was tired of using the extra time he was given; there was something incredibly unnerving about being on a ship alone, with the galaxy frozen outside the window.

It made him feel like he was the last creature in the world.

Which was why the assassin was glad when Woorud station came into view, a little sliver of silver that grew into a huge satellite the closer the Charasean got, jutting from space like some bizarre anchor. Hamelin was looking forward to actually speaking to people, to being in the presence of others. His loneliness was exhausting.

Which was why he felt bitter disappointment in his mouth upon receiving intel from one of his acquaintances and informants. The message had come, flashing across the front window of _Piper,_ and startling Elin just as he was about to ask permission to land on the station. It had confirmed that there was no way Tallin, in disguise or not, had shown up to Woorud in the past months, making his lead – and therefore also Reid’s lead -  a dead end. However the informant also alerted Elin to the fact that if Tallin had come to this area of the galaxy he could’ve been on Aghamora, the moon of the poisonous planet Ardath, that had been –and was still being used – as a safe space and refugee camp for oppressed creatures...

Elin had got that message a day ago, and had, regretfully, opened another jar of time which meant that now he was finally approaching the air-space of Aghamora. His white hands were gripping the controls as his ship smoothly slid into the moon’s air-space, carefully dodging the debris that overhung Aghamora like a cloud. In the distance he could see the looming, overpowering shape of Ardath, a dead-planet where nobody could survive. It chilled Elin’s blood, just looking at it, all burnt and life-less, with not even a light to indicate that anybody was there. Aghamora looked much more unassuming; smaller and orange it was habitable, despite its lack of gravity.

If Hamelin had a choice, he would have never come here. Aghamora had a long history and connections to his race, the Charaseans. During the Cairn War the moon had been a safe haven for Omegas escaping Alpha persecution and ever since then it had remained so; despite changes to legislation granting Omegas more rights, many still felt oppressed and came here to seek refuge.

Hamelin hated it, because he was an Omega too. Even seeing Aghamora up close was bringing back a shit-storm of things Elin would’ve preferred to forget. He didn’t like remembering that he was an Omega, because it made him inferior. If Reid ever knew their rivalry would be over; the Shif would never let Hamelin live it down. So Elin kept it a secret but now, as he was granted permission to land on Aghamora, he was bitterly reminded of the truth. On Aghamora he couldn’t pretend to be someone else – people knew him here. He really wished he didn’t have to come here. _At least I’ll be able to get more suppressants,_ he told himself. They were necessary for people like him, and he was running out. The less he had to remember who he really was, the better.

“ _State your name for the database.”_ Came a crackling voice through the intercom. Hamelin stifled a sigh and quickly replied.

“Hamelin. Asking for permission to land.”

“ _Just Hamelin, no last name?”_

“Just Hamelin, no last name. I’m in the base already.”

There was a moment of silence and Hamelin carefully dodged more floating debris as he saw the ground get nearer and nearer. Several ships were anchored to the sandy ground and the sky was as bloody-red as Hamelin remembered, with two suns beating down insistently on the ground. As far as eye could see, there was nothing on Aghamora, and it was just a cracked, dry wasteland of dirt with phantom junk hanging in the misty air. Elin knew the real base was beneath ground.

The intercom crackled, “ _Cess-Ship A3455 ‘The Pied Piper’ given permission to land.”_

Hamelin flicked the intercom off with annoyance as he saw two Charaseans come out of the ground, signalling to Hamelin with two laser lights as if the man didn’t know how to land his own bloody ship. When _Piper_ got low enough, a kinetic wire shot out from the ground and wrapped around the base of the ship, which shuddered as it was dragged down into a parking spot. It was necessary to keep ships down on Aghamora; the weather here was unpredictable and the second a storm started the lack of gravity did it’s thing and started tossing things about. Even now, over Elin’s head there were a dozen ship carcasses, partly destroyed and just suspended in the air silent reminders to keep your vehicle parked at all times. No wonder this place was nicknamed Qinae's Junkyard.

 _Piper_ touched down on Aghamora.

“Right,” Hamelin stretched his arms over his head, “Let’s get this show on the road.”

As always there was no reply from his ship, but Elin refused to dwell on his lack of crew as he switched off the power and walked to the door. He pulled on his purple gravity suit, tugged on gravity shoes that would stop him from floating away and fitted a helmet over his head, before opening his door and stepping out. He slowly fell down to the ground, his heavy feet hitting the hard-packed earth. The two Charaseans who had helped him park rushed over...though ‘rush’ probably wasn’t the best way to put it – the shoes were heavy and awkward so it was more like the men waddled over to Elin. The assassin subconsciously put his hand on the gun concealed at his waist even though he had an idea why the Charaseans were approaching him.

“Mr Hamelin?” one of the men asked, breath fogging up the glass of his suit. Hamelin’s eyes narrowed.

“Yes, that’s me.”

“The president wishes to see you.”

Hamelin groaned. Of course this was what this was about. _Starsdammit,_ he swore mentally as he inclined his head, following the two Charaseans as they took him to a door in the ground. When they opened it Elin slid into a over-familiar small room, cluttered with suits and boots. Nothing had changed over the years. With disgust Elin kicked a shoe away. He didn’t want to feel nostalgia looking around; he didn’t like this place and the moment the trap door closed overhead he felt trapped and claustrophobic.

“Sir, let us escort you-“ one of the Charaseans started but Hamelin just pulled off his helmet, tucking it under his arm and pushing his dark hair out of his eyes.

“No need,” he said bluntly, “I know the way.”

Elin was pleased when he didn’t hear footsteps following him. He exited the ‘front-room’ and found himself in a medicinal, bleached hallway. Just seeing the white walls again made Hamelin shudder – thankfully he’d only have to make one stop here. The president would give him all the answers Hamelin needed and then hopefully the man could get out of here and be back on his way before he saw anyone else.

He hurried up his step, rounding the corner. All the hallways were the same and yet despite years of absence Elin knew exactly where he was going, ducking into doorways and weaving his way through what once used to be a rebel base. He hated how loud it was; fans thrummed in the walls and laughter echoed all around him, coming from bedrooms and common rooms. Everyone was socialising. Hamelin shuddered in disgust. He suddenly remembered how fucking grateful he had been when he first bought _Piper,_ how much he had enjoyed the silence and solitude. Now, being back in this place, he desperately yearned for the isolation of his ship.

The man stopped in front of double-doors, blended almost seamlessly with the white wall. To his left a short corridor led into a huge open room with long tables filled with Charaseans – it was dinner time. Elin swallowed. Suddenly he was a little kid all over again, anxious and shy. _Get your shit together,_ Hamelin told himself, turning his back to the dining room and pushing his hair from his face once more. He was an assassin, the best of the best, not some weakling that used to get picked on by Alphas. He wasn’t Elin, the little Omega anymore. He was Hamelin, and he could kill every person in this horrible place if he wanted to.

Hamelin knocked on the door, jaw clenched.

“Come in,” the voice sounded, and Elin locked away his emotions in his chest as he shoved his way into the room.

The president of Aghamora sat behind a sleek white desk, dressed in long black robes. Her black hair was pinned up into a bun, her face warm and full of welcome. She stood when Hamelin walked in and opened her arms as if to hug him.

“Hamelin.”

“Mother,” Elin said stiffly, coldly. Hurt flickered over the woman’s face and she lowered her arms.

“I thought you’d at least pretend to be happy to see me,” she said, “It’s been so long...”

“So it has,” Hamelin shoved his hands into the pockets of his black jacket and looked around the office, “So I’m back in Qinae's Junkyard, and you get to see me again. You probably have questions, and I have some too, so fire away and then you’ll give me what I need.”

With a heavy sigh Hamelin’s mother collapsed in her chair – the wrinkles in her face seemed deeper as she rubbed her forehead, “Why did you run away, Hamelin?” she asked softly, “Wasn’t this all good enough for you?”

Hamelin snorted and turned to holograms of photos hanging on the wall. There were plenty of him as a child and he inspected it before off-handedly saying, “No, it wasn’t. I thought that was clear.”

His mother sat up straighter, her mouth in a thin line, “Hamelin. Don’t pretend like I don’t know what you do. _Murder?_ For money? I thought you’d have a brighter future in front of you-“

“Yes, yes,” Hamelin feigned boredom even though having this conversation with his mother, even _being_ in her presence, was making his blood boil. He had thought that after the years apart maybe he’d miss her some, but there was no love lost between them, even now, “You wanted a brighter future for me all-right. You wanted to marry me off to that stupid Alpha-“

“Hamelin!” his mother barked, all warmth gone from her face and voice, “Shar is the best Alpha we have, he could’ve provided for you-“

“Provided for me?!” Hamelin exploded, whirling on his mother and allowing his anger to wash over him, “Look where you’re sitting, mother!” he growled at her, “Do you forget what this was?!” he gestured at the room and his mother flinched when he took a step towards her, “This was a sanctuary for us, for Omegas, when we were oppressed by the likes of you and Shar! Omegas came here so we wouldn’t be fucking killed, and married off, and raped, and forced to have children! There is more to Omegas than being fucking house-wives, mother!” he snapped, and saw the tension in his mother’s shoulders, “But you’ve fucked it up, now. Marrying me off,” he laughed bitterly, “you’re a fucking disgrace to everything Charaseans have fought for. As always, corruption gets the best of us, eh? Here we are, back at the start, back to oppressing Omegas.”

“I never wanted an Omega son,” the president said coldly.

“Trust me mother,” Elin ignored the ache in his chest, “I know that.”

“Well,” the woman cleared her throat, “Is there something you came here for, or are you here simply to insult me?”

“You’ve heard of the ordeal on Fayaxiamen?”

His mother snorted, her good-woman demeanour gone completely, “Ah, the usurpation of the King? It’s not Charasean business.”

“No, apparently Charasean business is selling kids off,” Hamelin interjected. The president’s eyes narrowed.

“You’re walking on a thin line, Hamelin. If you could be more like your siblings-“

“They’re all Alphas, so that wouldn’t work,” Elin said but, seeing that his mother’s patience was wearing thin, he quickly continued, “I’m looking for Tallin, the Prince and heir to the throne. His aunt wants him dead.”

“And you think I’m cruel for wanting to secure you a good marriage,” the woman snorted humourlessly.

“Is he here, or not?” Elin wanted this business over and done with – he didn’t wish to look at the contempt in his mother’s face for longer than necessary.

“No,” the president leaned back in her chair, “He’s not. We’ve had no non-Charasean arrivals in the last months.” She sighed and stood up, “Hamelin.”

“Don’t,” the boy barked, taking a step back. A warm smile appeared on his mother’s face; she was a great manipulator, it was where Elin got it from.

“Why don’t you stay a few days? Hunting must be exhausting. And you haven’t seen Shar in years. You two could talk-“

“Goodbye mother,” Hamelin turned and stormed out of the door abruptly, before the woman could get any other reaction out of him. He blindly hurried down the corridor, trying to quench his anger, which was hard. _Why_ wasn’t he enough for that woman? Why was she always trying to get rid of him, pass him on to some Alpha so he wasn’t her problem anymore? Yes, Hamelin was the only Omega in the family but in this day and age was it really that important? The man needed to get off this damned moon.

However in his blind rage Hamelin’s legs had moved by themselves, and before he knew it he was standing in front of an all-too-familiar door. He stopped in front of it and his heart began to hammer in his chest. _Screw it, I’m here already._ He swallowed and lifted his hand. It wasn’t like he _wanted_ to see it, it was all just instinct; his heat was close and Elin was feeling...more emotional than normal.

The door opened with a soft hiss, and Hamelin stepped into his old bedroom. His stomach clenched. He hadn’t been here in years and a small part of him had hoped, on his lonely nights on _Piper,_ that his mother might’ve kept it the way he abandoned it, in hopes that maybe he’d come home. He had been wrong – the room was stripped of all his belongings, the bed and walls bare. Clinical. That was the way to describe this rebel base beneath Aghamora.

Hamelin had no place here, or anywhere else in the galaxy, and the fact that nobody loved him, or wanted him, or would miss him, hurt.

Prickled with pain, the Omega turned to the door, only to find it blocked by a figure. The man was tall, and _old,_ almost twice Hamelin’s age. His brown hair was pushed back from his white forehead and his face remained cold and impassive as his grey eyes gazed down at Hamelin. The assassin’s hand returned to the gun at his belt.

“Shar,” he said coldly.

“Your mother told me I’d find you here,” Shar Ellianwood replied in a monotone, “It hurt me when you ran, Hamelin.”

“This is ridiculous,” Elin laughed, “It was years ago, get over it and move aside, Shar. I’m not interested in marrying you any more than I was.”

“You’re not a kid anymore,” Shar stepped closer and all of Elin’s instincts told him to run. Shar might’ve been an Alpha but he was _not_ the Alpha Hamelin wanted. In fact there was only one man he wanted..., “You know what’s best for you, Hamelin. I can provide for you-“

“Oh my _stars,_ here we go again,” Hamelin rolled his eyes, “look, I have things to do and so do you, so let’s not waste each other’s time, alright?”

Shar’s eyes narrowed and for a moment he looked mad. Then he stepped aside, “Have it your way, Hamelin, but you’ll be mine eventually.”

“Whatever,” Hamelin shoved past him and out of the room. It wasn’t until he found himself back in the cluttered front-room that the realisation of what just happened hit him. The Omega slumped against the wall and exhaled shakily, pressing his hand over his chest where his heart pounded violently. That...had been scary. Scary, and unnecessary. Anger grew in Hamelin – so Tallin wasn’t here, so where in the fuck was he then?!

Furious at how emotional he got, Hamelin shoved his helmet back on and stepped outside. The wind was picking up on Aghamora and the Omega eagerly stormed towards the comforting bulk of _Piper._ He didn’t want to stay on this fucking moon, especially not during a storm. He’d have to figure out where to go, but that could wait until he was out of the atmosphere.

The man sighed a breath of relief when he was back behind the controls of his ship, turning the power back on. It was only when _Piper_ rose through the quivering debris over Aghamora that Elin realised something very important.

He’d forgotten his suppressants.

**25 th Myrogan 1179 (5 days later)**

**Rum.**

Aros was honestly bored, which was a big feat when you worked in a brothel. But the past few days had been relatively quiet and peaceful; the religous Ishait had fucked off back to whatever hole they had crawled out of, and things had returned to normal. Kalana and Chi were still pretending they weren’t mates, Cavi was still sick and Kaio was still being a little shit.

Right now the Silvers were in the middle of their shift. As Aro patrolled the second floor of the brothel he could see their bodies writhing on the podiums. Aemis was twisting gracefully in a huge tank of water, illuminated with a dozen colours and surrounded by bubbles. He pressed up against the glass seductively and the clients watching him leaned forward, mesmerized. Misamis was on the stage next to him, her white hair floating down her otherwise naked body as she slid around the pole. Aro’s eyes danced right over them and, subconsciously, slid to the stage that Kai normally danced on. It was empty.

A pang went through Aros. If a dancer’s stage was empty it only meant one thing; a client had requested to fuck them. The Ishait bodyguard’s jaw clenched; _Why do I care? It’s his job._ Besides, Kai was rude, and self-absorbed and arrogant, and yet Aro... _no, I’m being stupid._ Aros could do much better than some stupid slut anyway. He turned away from the stages and walked down the half-floor, ensuring nobody was sneaking around. But the floor was dark and full of curling smoke, and the only sounds came from the rows of doors to Aro’s left where the Silvers were getting fucked.

Aros walked slower, listening. He heard Tabora behind one of the doors, the Ubloit woman growling commands at some client, who wanted to submit to her. Aro continued to walk, not particularly wanting to hear it. He liked to think that he was friends with the dancers, excluding Kai of course, and he didn’t want to hear them get screwed especially since he knew most of them didn’t really like it.

Aros stopped walking abruptly as an unfamiliar voice floated out through the next door. It was male, high-pitched and whiny. For some reason Aro knew it was Kai, having shape-shifted into someone else. A cold, invisible fist gripped Aros’ heart in his chest and he couldn’t move, no matter how much he wanted to. He just stood outside the door, frozen, listening to the fake moans spilling from the Zalian. Aro spent more time than he should’ve at these doors, listening to the sounds Kaio made, looking for some leverage against him. He knew that the boy’s moans were fake...Still, it was embarrassing to admit that he did this, even to himself. Sometimes Aros wondered if it’d be different between the two of them if he was good looking...Aro leaned against the door and closed his eyes. He remembered kissing Kai.

They had been kids, and Aros had honestly been traumatised after all the fighting he had to do and all the murdering he witnessed. And Kaio had been so, so pretty. The prettiest little thing Aro had ever seen, flawless. And he just looked so pure, dressed all in white with his hair like sea-water and Aros just wanted to touch him, just a little, because he thought maybe it’d wash away all the invisible blood and guts he could still feel on himself. Kaio hadn’t thought the same.

“ _Stop it!”_ the yell came from behind the door and Aro jerked out of his daydream, standing up straight. _Idiot, what am I thinking?!_ He thought to himself, looking around to check nobody had seen. That’s when he heard another shout from inside the room – _“I said stop being s-so rough!”_

It was Kai yelling – or Kai in whoever’s form he had taken. Aros tensed and pulled his sword out, anxiety flooding him.

 _“Come on whore!”_ this second voice was from a man – the client, undoubtedly, _“I know you like it!”_

 _“I said_ stop!” Kai was clearly seething and when Aro heard the sound of skin slapping against skin grow more intense, followed by Kai’s yelp of pain, his instincts kicked in. He shoved open the door and strode in.

The sight that greeted him was anything but good. The client was a fat Shif, and had Kai pinned down to the bed. Except Kai wasn’t Kai but a much younger boy, with chestnut hair and terrified brown eyes. The bruises that bloomed on his hips and chest were a clear indication that something was wrong; clients weren’t allowed to mark the dancers.

“Get off him, right now,” Aro fought to remain composed.

“What is the meaning of this?!” the fat, disgusting Shif jumped up and grabbed his shirt, covering his naked cock, “How dare you barge in like that?!”

“You have violated the terms of the _Thirteen Fragments,_ sir,” Aro said coldly, “I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

The client looked ready to argue, but then he saw the impressive sword in Aros’ hand, and took in the sheer size of the Ishait. He stood up straighter.

“I will take this up with your boss!” he huffed, clumsily pulling on his trousers before dashing from the room. Aros shoved the door shut behind him and, before he realised what he was doing, he turned to Kai.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

In front of his eyes, the brunet boy changed back into Kai; a breeze rushed through his hair, turning it back to aquamarine, and his eyes turned blue, cold and piercing. With a huff similar to the client’s, Kai climbed off the bed.

“Fuck’s sake,” he grumbled, picking up a partially see-through white shirt off the floor and shoving it on. Aro crossed the space between them and grabbed the boy’s wrist, forcing Kai to look at him. The boy didn’t look traumatized or scared, he looked annoyed. He jerked his wrist out of Aro’s grip, “Thanks a lot for that, asshole.”

“What?” Aros blinked, “He was hurting you.”

Kai rolled his eyes, “And?” he demanded, “Now I’ve lost a client, fucking fantastic!”

“You could be nicer, you know,” anger tingled through Aros’ veins. How could he go from caring about this boy’s wellbeing to wanting to strangle him in five seconds? It was a mystery of the universe.

“You could fuck off, you know,” Kai snarled back.

“Let me see your bruises.”

Kaio angrily opened his shirt up, revealing his naked body to Aro. The guard’s mouth went dry as he saw miles of creamy skinny, mottled with purple bruises. He also noticed that Kai wasn’t hard – which wasn’t surprising. Then the bruises started to disappear.

“No bruises,” Kai snapped. Aros grabbed his hips and squeezed and the boy hissed in pain and recoiled, “Fuck off!” he yelled, backing up. Aro crossed his arms over his broad chest.

“You can’t make all your problems disappear.”

“Why do you care so much?” Kai demanded, eyes narrowing, “You like me or something? Is that it? Because I’m starting to think that that’s it! You’re always following me around like a stray puppy – I don’t need a hero, Aros.”

Aro raised an amused eyebrow, “You think you’re special?” he asked, and Kai blinked in surprise, “You forget it’s my job to keep you safe. I only get paid if you’re in one piece. So don’t flatter yourself, Kai, the only thing I feel for you is resentment.”

The boy looked shocked for a second, then his mouth turned into a thin line, “Yeah, right,” he pulled the shirt closed around himself. He meant for it to be an off-hand movement but Aro saw the insecurity that flashed in his eyes for a second. _Don’t feel bad,_ he told himself, _this guy’s a cunt,_ “You better go explain to Mr T why my client has run away.”

“Stars, Kai,” Aro looked to the heavens as if for guidance, “thank Quinae you’re pretty, otherwise you’d have no good qualities.”

Kai’s jaw clenched, “Shut the fuck up, you ugly beast.” He tried to move past Aros, but the guard couldn’t give up – not when it came to Kai. He put a hand on the door, to stop Kai from leaving.

“Come on,” he said, gentler now, “Don’t be like that. Let me have a look at those bruises...”

“You didn’t hear me,” Kai said coldly, “I don’t want you to fucking touch me, Aros,” his blazing eyes snapped to the guard, “You disgust me.”

Fury burned in Aros’ gut. He was trying to be kind to the boy he despised the most, and his kindness was thrown back in his face. Aro’s anger took over and before he knew it he had Kai up against the wall by his throat. The boy’s eyes were wide, blue and panicked.

“You’re such a little shit,” Aro growled, bringing their faces close together. He wasn’t choking Kai, was just keeping him there, unable to escape. It felt good to have the upper hand. The dancer’s hands gripped his, and he looked pissed, but Aro didn’t care. In that moment he wanted to shake Kai to the core, to _scare_ him. “I’m going to fuck you, you know that?” Aro asked, “I’m gonna get the money and I’ll fuck you, and I bet you’ll fucking like it. You’ll like an ugly, monstrous beast fucking you. I bet I’ll make you come harder than you’ve ever come before.”

Kai’s eyes widened in shock and Aro was secretly proud of himself. That was until he remembered where he was and what he was doing. His anger subsided and he let go of Kai. The boy still stared at him, cheeks red, eyes big. He looked...Aro didn’t know what he looked like, but the thought of hurting him was suddenly unbearable. Aros wouldn’t be able to take the boy against his will...

“Fuck you,” Kai spat, and then he ran from the room. Aro stayed there, breathing hard. He looked around helplessly. Was Kai going to report him to Tuvian? Aro couldn’t afford to lose this job...his eyes fell on the bed. There was blood on the covers. Guilt grew in Aro’s chest like sick. How much of an asshole was he, to scare a boy just after he had been violated like that? Maybe Kai was right, he was a monster...

***

Kai collapsed on his bed, panting. He was alone since his shift wasn’t technically over and the rest of the Silvers were downstairs, but his body ached from how rough the client had been and he didn’t have the energy to go back out and dance. And then there was Aros...

Kaio turned to his side and pushed his face into a pillow, biting down as rucked his shirt up, wrapping his hand around his burning erection. He choked on a moan the moment his delicate fingers gripped his cock, and squeezed his eyes shut. He could hear the music from the club downstairs. When was the last time he had been hard? He couldn’t remember. Getting fucked every night by strangers kind of took the pleasure out of anything sexual but now, as Kai remembered how Aros had shoved him up against the wall, he felt lust burn through him.

 _No,_ he thought helplessly even as his hand moved up and down his cock sloppily, _not him._ He _hated_ Aro, and Aro was ugly with all his scars, and those weird eyes, and that long, silver hair, and those rippling muscles...and those calloused hands that could be so gentle sometimes...and those lips that had kissed him years ago...

Kaio whined into the bed, fucking his own fist, his mind in a frenzy. Stars, he wanted Aros to fuck him. He had _never_ wanted anybody to do it before, he hated sex, he never got aroused, but he wanted that man to do everything to him, _everything..._

Kai came over his hand embarrassingly fast. He rolled onto his back, panting and looking up at his canopy. _What the hell?_ Tears prickled his eyes. He was so confused. He hated Aro, didn’t he? And Aro hated him back, that much was clear, so why...

Kaio closed his eyes shut. He was _not_ going to cry over that bastard.

**(The same day)**

**Lossa.**

“Welcome to Lossa,” Wien said cheerfully, stepping off the _Mnemosyne_. Navan looked around and couldn’t help but feel impressed – for a planet in the Eon Galaxy, Lossa looked surprisingly sociable. All around the landing pods rose tall, egg-like buildings made entirely of glass, allowing for the crew to look right into the wild parties that were taking place on seemingly every floor.

“Alright,” Fryva rubbed her hands together, grinning like a mad-woman. The Harsonia was so excited that her bubblegum-pink hair was beginning to float, and her yellow tentacles were escaping the confines of her long, black skirt, “Let’s do this, crew!”

“Just remember,” Nav turned to the group gathered outside their ship – some dozen or so crew members who all needed a break, “There are strict rules on Lossa that we must follow, the biggest one being no touching!” even saying that felt bizarre to Nav; the Ishait loved physical contact, so to think that Lowizians – the species that inhabited this planet – didn’t was weird, “So don’t go ‘round getting drunk and smacking asses,” he gave Tira a pointed look, and the fish-girl just shrugged, “But also don’t touch each other. Just drink, relax and have fun, all clear?”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Wien mock-saluted him. Navan rolled his eyes fondly at his friend and then shooed off the crew, watching them walk down a long, well-lit pier, heading towards the closest club in an egg-building.

“Um, Navan.”

The Captain turned around. Hanging back awkwardly in the entrance of the _Mnemosyne_ was Fynley. He looked anxious, as always, hair covering most of his face though for once he was out of his janitor’s uniform, having swapped it out for a long-sleeved black t-shirt and dark pants. He looked geeky and adorable, and Nav smiled at him. For the past week the boy had helped him get to sleep and the Captain was more than grateful for it – which was why he had given the kid the day off.

“Yeah, what’s up?” Nav asked. Fyn swallowed visibly.

“I...uh...I-I don’t think I’m going to go out.”

“What?” Nav demanded, “Nonsense!”

“I just...,” Fyn wrung his hands together and big his lip. The part of his cheek that was visible was burning red, “I just...I’ve never been drinking and I’m not very good with people and...”

“Come on,” Navan said, “You have to try new things, Fyn, or life will pass you by.” Seeing that the boy wasn’t convinced and was staring at his feet, Nav walked closer to him, “Hey,” he said, and the clone looked up at him shyly. Navan fought the urge to brush the hair from his face – they were on a planet that prohibited touch so as much as the Ishait inside Nav wanted to touch someone, he couldn’t, “I won’t force you, but one drink won’t kill you. I’ll come with and if you want to come back I’ll go with you.”

“R-Really?” Fynley asked hesitantly. Nav grinned.

“Yeah, really. We’re friends after-all right?”

“W-We are?”

“Yup,” Navan turned towards the crew which was already halfway down the pier, “Come on then.”

The boy hesitated, but as Nav started to walk, all carefree and confident, the clone hurried after him. He stuck as close as possible to Navan without actually touching him, and as the Captain glanced over he couldn’t help a wave of fondness for the boy settle in him. He was so sweet. Sometimes Nav forgot he was a clone, especially when he was falling asleep next to the kid each night. He wondered what the boy had been through before finding his way onto the _Mnemosyne._ It couldn’t have been good – the kid was like a closed box, and apart from his constant anxiety Navan didn’t really know what he was feeling.

“Scared?” he asked as the nightclub came into view – the queue was short and the rest of the crew was piled on the end, excited for their first night out in ages. It was like going out with a bunch of kids.

“Yeah, a little,” Fyn mumbled back.

Navan wished he could’ve held the kid’s hand. It wasn’t like he had any feelings for him, except maybe affection. He and Fynley barely knew each other and in the Captain’s head the only thing joining them was the secret they shared about Nav’s needs. It wasn’t and wouldn’t be any more than that, but Nav still wanted to make sure that Fynley was okay and having a good time.

“See you inside, suckers!” Fryva winked at Navan as she linked her arm through Illes’ and dragged him inside. The beaver did _not_ look happy about going out and Nav hoped that made Fyn feel better.

They made it to the front of the queue where a big, bulky man stood. He had blue skin and all-white eyes, his jaw covered in a white beard. There was a blinking chip at his throat – a translator.

“ID,” he spoke in Amablilis, looking at Navan.

“Faso’s fine,” the Captain replied and held up his wrist. His ID flickered in front of him. He remembered his pirating days, when he’d have to gouge out chips from his wrist every few weeks to avoid getting caught. Those had been messy days, and Nav was more than happy that he was legal now.

The security guard held up the ID scanner and it flashed green. He nodded and then looked down at Fynley. Fynley looked terrified.

“Fyn,” Nav laughed, “Just show him your ID.”

“I-I don’t...,” the boy was trembling like a leaf in the wind under the scrutinizing gaze of the Lowizian, “I don’t h-have one.”

“What?” Navan hissed, shocked. The Lowizian’s eyes narrowed.

“ID,” he repeated, clearly growing impatient. Navan panicked a little when he saw tears prickling at the corners of Fyn’s eyes. He had never seen someone so afraid.

“I-I don’t have it,” the boy choked out, taking a step back.

“Hey,” Nav said softly, “It’s okay.”

He glanced at the guard who, to his surprise, didn’t look angry. His white eyes, despite lacking irises or anything of the sort, looked sympathetic.

“It’s okay,” he repeated what Navan had just said and then waved the two through. Nav blinked in surprise.

“Thanks,” he said, and _almost_ reached for Fyn’s hand before remembering that was illegal. Fynley stood there, frozen and shell-shocked and already a queue had formed behind him, “Fyn,” Navan hissed, “ _come on.”_

As if in a trance, Fynley turned to him and wobbled after Navan. The man ducked into the club. Immediately he was hit by the stench of incense. The interior was red, and there walls were all made of glass, allowing for a perfect view of the brightly lit party-city. Inside the club there were plenty of Lowizians, dancing solo in the semi-darkness. The atmosphere was definitely weird, the music metallic and aggressive.

Suddenly Nav found himself being pushed into a dark corner. Surprised, he blinked and saw Fyn hugging himself against his chest, face pressed into Nav’s collarbone and arms tightly wrapped around his middle. A wave of comforting heat flooded Navan and for a second he lost himself in the touch; he felt Fyn’s heart pounding up against his chest, felt the boy’s fingers digging into his back. He was so warm.

Remembering where they were, Nav panicked and glanced around, putting his arms on the Shif’s shoulders, ready to be a professional Captain and push him away.

But then Fyn let out a quiet, pathetic little sob, and Navan melted.

“Hey,” he looked around anxiously, but their little corner seemed to be dark enough for none of the people around them to notice – he could see the crew at the bar, not paying attention. Nav took his chances and wrapped his arms around the trembling clone, “Hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.”

“T-That was s-scary,” Fyn whispered, voice muffled. Nav stroked his back comfortingly, aware that he’d have to let the boy go before somebody noticed them. Still, he allowed himself a few more seconds of soaking in Fyn’s delicious warmth.

“I know. You should’ve told me you had no ID, I can get one for you-“

Fyn pulled away from Nav’s chest. His eyes were red, cheeks flushed, nose all snotty. His hair was much too long.

“I-I don’t w-wanna be trouble,” the boy admitted in a small, shaky voice, wiping his wet nose on his sleeve. Navan couldn’t help but smile – he reached out and playfully flicked Fyn’s fringe – the boy blushed and hurriedly smoothed his hair down over his face.

“You’re no trouble, kiddo,” Nav said, “Now come on, let’s get some liquor in you, eh?”

They headed for the bar. It was oval, like all the buildings on Lossa, with a Lowizian barmaid behind it. She was dressed in a skimpy, silver dress, her long yellow hair curled in two braids and contrasting her deep blue skin. Her white eyes were hauntingly beautiful, and dragged over Navan as he approached. She remained expressionless.  

Like the security guard, she had a translation box on her throat, “Drinks, gentlemen?” she asked in Faso. Navan smiled at her and scanned the holographic, shimmering menu floating above her head.

“Yes. We’ll have two number twelve’s, please.”

The bar-maid inclined her head as if this was some important business transaction and turned to the mountain of glimmering glasses behind her. Nav also turned his back to her, leaning on the bar and scanning the club. The music was rough, punky, and everywhere around him there were people dancing alone. Nav couldn’t help but think it was no fun to dance by himself.

“Nav,” Fyn whispered next to him, eyes wide and voice full of awe. He was staring, badly, at everything around him, “Nav, look, oh my stars, there’s so many species here...”

Nav hadn’t noticed. He was an ex-pirate, he had seen more than his fair share of weirdness but even he became impressed by some of the creatures lounging around the room; a bald, man-like creature with fleshy pink skin sat stiffly at one of the magenta booths, dressed head-to-toe in an old fashioned yellow spacesuit, a helmet on his head despite the fact that Lossa had plenty of oxygen in the air. In the booth next to him sat another old, lonely man, his eyes two deep, black sockets with only icy pinpricks shining in the shadow. For a moment he reminded Nav of his own species, the Ishait. Then, as the man let out a breath, steam came from his ears, nose and mouth. Unlike his neighbour, who was staring emotionlessly into space, this man’s eyes were constantly flickering. They landed on Fynley.

“Come on now,” Nav turned back to the bar; he didn’t want any trouble. Like a scared mouse, Fyn scuttled to do the same. He placed his pale hands in fists on the counter. Nav wondered if the boy ever looked relaxed, because it seemed impossible; he was either stressed or nervous _all_ the time, like it was his natural state. Even when he climbed into bed with Navan he looked tense, which honestly kind of upset the Captain; for Nav, it was the best time, those few hours where he just got to forget all his problem and hold onto the boy, allowing his warmth to chase away the chill that had been settled in his bones for months...clearly Fyn didn’t feel the same. _Why do I care?_ Nav sighed quietly and brushed his hand through his hair, _it’s just a favour._

“Your drinks,” the Lowizian bar-maid placed two glasses in front of Navan, emotionless as ever.

“Woah,” Fyn mumbled, squatting down a little so he was eye-level with the glasses. The liquid in them was black, with things curling inside that looked somewhere between blue smoke and those old fashioned lava-lamps. Nav had seen more interesting-looking cocktails but he had to admit that Fyn’s excitement over everything new was a little endearing.

The bar-maid held out her palm as if waiting for a high-five. Navan lifted his wrist to her hand and when their skin was inches apart the Lowizian’s hand glowed green and credits jumped from Navan’s account into the account of the bar.

“No!” Fyn flushed, “You don’t have to pay for me-“

“Shush, idiot, and drink your drink,” Navan silenced him and grabbed his glass. It was icy to touch but when he lifted it to his mouth and took a sip, the liquor burned down his throat, numbing his lips for a few seconds. It tasted like-

“Ugh,” Fynley made a face, then coughed, “That’s-“

“Strong, isn’t it?” Navan grinned, “Don’t worry, you get used to it.”

Fyn took another tentative sip and then looked at Nav, “Um...so what do we do now?”

Navan shrugged, “In normal clubs people get drunk and grind on each other,” that made Fyn’s cheek burn red, “but since this is Lossa I think we’ll just stick to the ‘get drunk’ part.”

He gestured to a small booth and was pleased that Fynley followed him to it, still sipping on his drink. Navan glanced back at his crew, milling around the bar like a bunch of bees. They’d be fine, they always were, and Nav didn’t feel like he had to babysit them or take care of them...Fyn on the other hand...Nav couldn’t help but think that maybe one of those dodgy creatures sitting around would snatch the boy up and sell him into prostitution on Rum or something. It was a horrible thought, and Nav was definitely glad that Fyn was under his wing now and he could make sure the clone was okay.

The two of them sat down in the booth. Fynley cradled his drink in his hands as if he was afraid it would grow legs and run away. Nav had already finished half of his glass.

“Don’t you want to be with your crew?” Fyn mumbled, and Nav barely heard him over the sound of the music.

“I’m with my crew all the time,” the Captain replied, “The whole year. They get months off and fuck off back to their home planets but I’m always on _Mnemosyne,”_ he smiled, “It’s nice to talk to someone new.”

“I...,” the little part of Fyn’s face that was visible was red, “I don’t have a home planet.”

“Yeah, can’t really go back to Earth, can ya?”

Fyn shook his head, bit his lip, took a nervous sip of his drink. He was like a puzzle, and Navan was very intrigued by him, he wanted to put all the pieces together and then slowly take them back apart.

“Do you want to tell me?” he asked. Fyn blinked.

“Huh?”

“Your story.”

“O-Oh,” the boy looked away, “I...I just...I-I got clone four years ago a-and...,” his hands started to tremble. He was so innocent in a sense, that it made Nav’s heart ache.

“It’s okay,” the Captain smiled, “You don’t have to tell me anything unless you want to.”

Fynley nodded, “Um...d-do you want to tell me?” he asked shyly. Navan shrugged.

“Sure. As you can see I’m an Ishait,” the Captain had no trouble opening up about his life; he had done it a hundred times before, since people always seemed hungry for more information about him, “I was born on Calliban, only ten years after the Cairn War ended.”

“The Cairn War,” Fyn frowned, “What...what did your planet do in that?”

“Have a civil war, mostly,” Nav shrugged, “like Golbahar. Calliban was divided into two; you could either be a Light Ishait or a Dark Ishait,” the Captain sighed and drained his glass, “unfortunately my parents were Dark Ishait – the bad ones that lost the war. The year I was born this thing called ‘The Hunt’ began, where all these self-made heroes started hunting for war criminals all over the three galaxies. My parents had been harbouring runaways. We moved to Rum and I grew up surrounded by crime and dirty dealings. My house...wasn’t the nicest. My parents enjoyed drugs. I wanted to get away and so I got a job on a pirate ship. I spent most of my teenage years cruising the galaxy and robbing other ships which was fun, I must admit,” he grinned and Fyn, to his delight, smiled back, clearly enjoying the story, “We had many, many adventures that I will tell you about another night. Eventually I got my own ship.”

“The _Mnemosyne?”_ Fyn asked.

Nav nodded, “I continued to pirate for some years but then I met Wien, and he could make time and I thought it’d be a waste to use his gift for robbery, so we started a little memory wiping business and now,” he spread his arms, “We’re here.”

“Wow,” Fyn breathed “You’ve had such an interesting life.” Somewhere as Navan had been talking he finished his drink. Navan waved at one of the waiters milling around and ordered refills.

“Interesting and dangerous,” _to put it mildly,_ “but I’m happy with doing what we do now.”

“It looks...complicated,” Fyn admitted, “Memory wiping, I mean.” He looked nervous, “How does it work?”

“The Eraser, that machine you saw, is kind of like an AI. It goes inside the sub-conscious. Tira operates the machine and she manually finds the memory that needs to be wiped; usually it’s traumatic so there’s evidence of where the memory is, making the whole process easier,” Nav said, “think of it like bones healing; the Eraser heals nerves and by default erases what initially made them break.”

Fynley nibbled on his bottom lip, “Does it hurt?”

“No.”

“Then would it be possible if I-“

The waiter re-appeared by the table, “Your drinks,” he placed two more glasses in front of the men. Navan thanked him and then took another sip of the cocktail. When he looked up half of Fyn’s was already gone.

“Slow down, why don’t ya?” Navan laughed. Fyn’s face was _definitely_ red. Actually, now that he thought about it Nav wasn’t sure _what_ his face actually looked like, since it was always covered by his hair shaggy, overlong brown hair, “Hey,” he said, “By the way thankyou for helping me out with this whole physical contact thing.”

“O-Oh,” Fyn squeaked and then looked down at his drink, face burning, “I-It’s fine.”

“I won’t fire you, you know,” Navan smiled warmly at the boy, “if you decide to tell me to fuck off.”

“I wouldn’t do that!” Fyn gushed with sudden passion. Nav blinked at him in surprise, “You’re so kind to me,” the clone continued, emotional, “It’s so lovely on your ship and if I can do anything to help...t-then I will,” he finished lamely and then hurriedly finished his cocktail. Navan couldn’t help the swell of fondness that grew in his chest.

“Well thank you nonetheless.”

Fyn stood up abruptly, “I need the bathroom,” he blurted, not meeting Nav’s eye. The Captain watched as the boy scurried off across the club and past the crew of the _Mnemosyne._ The Ishait sighed and ran a hand through his hair; Fynley was troubled, that much was clear, and Nav desperately wanted to know why so he could help the boy. He didn’t know how he got so attached to him in only ten days...but then again with Wien producing time it felt like forever on the ship, and sharing a bed with someone was bound to make two people close.

 _I just want to protect him,_ Nav thought. He remembered the wonder in Fyn’s eyes when the Captain recalled his life. Whatever happened to Fynley before, Navan would ensure it didn’t happen again. He’d show that kid the galaxy.

“Captain,” Fryva appeared out of nowhere, a grin on her face. She smacked down two neon green shots on the table and didn’t say anything else, looking at Nav expectantly. The Captain rolled his eyes good-naturedly and took the shot. And then he took another, and another, and then Illes was there too, taking shots with them and they were laughing and talking  and-

“Where’s Fynley?” Navan asked abruptly after twenty minutes. He was buzzing pleasantly from the alcohol, and had temporarily forgotten about his new janitor. Fryva shrugged but Tira pointed to the exit door, “He left?” the Captain frowned. Tira shrugged and Nav got to his feet.

“Leave it,” Fryva went to grab his hand  with one of her tentacles and then remembered they were on Lossa, so she dropped it instead, “He’s a big boy, he’ll be okay.”

“I’m not taking chances,” Navan huffed.

“Since when do you care?” Illes raised an eyebrow. Nav didn’t feel like explaining – he had only just promised himself to take care of the boy and now he lost him the first chance he got.

He made his way to the exit in express time, pushing at the door insistently and coming back out into the city. It was quieter now, but the egg-shaped buildings glowed in multi-colour as behind glass parties continued. They probably wouldn’t stop until dawn. The air was cold.

“ _Fynley,”_ Nav sighed in relief when he found the boy with his eyes. The kid was leaning by the dumpsters a few steps away, shivering, his breath turning white in front of his face. He looked miserable, small and alone. There was nobody else in the back but the two of them so Navan hurried over, “Fyn, is everything okay?”

The boy looked up at him. His one visible eye was grey and unfocused, his mouth pouty, “Dunno,” he mumbled, swaying on his feet, “I feel weird.” His face was red. Navan laughed gently.

“You’re just drunk,” he said and Fyn frowned, “That’s normal.”

“Oh,” Fyn nibbled on his bottom lip. Nav glanced around, ensuring they were alone, and then reached to brush Fyn’s hair from his face. The clone pushed his hand away clumsily.

“What?” Nav asked.

“Nothing,” the boy mumbled.

“You’re upset.”

“I’m fine,” Fyn argued, then glanced up at the Captain, “I’ve never kissed anyone,” he admitted, words slurring together. Navan blinked.

“Er...,” he didn’t know how to respond. _Where did that come from?_

And then Fynley just reached up, sliding his arms around Nav’s neck. He stood on his tiptoes – awkwardly, clumsily – and pressed his mouth to Nav’s. His lips were dry and soft and _why in the stars was he kissing Navan?_ The Captain froze, unsure of what to do with himself; was he supposed to shove Fyn away? But he didn’t want to embarrass him...he didn’t know the boy had feelings for him, and now he felt bad – had he led him on somehow...?

Fynley’s arms tightened around Nav, his brows furrowing. His chestnut hair tickled Navan’s cheeks and the boy started to try and deepen the kiss, his tongue pushing up against Nav’s lips. And shit, it actually felt good. The heat from Fyn’s body spread through Navan’s and before the Captain knew what he was doing he had his hands on Fyn’s hips. The boy breathed shakily into his mouth, the cold tip of his nose touching Nav’s. _What am I doing?_ Navan thought helplessly as his own tongue slid out of his mouth and brushed against Fyn’s. The boy jumped, surprised, and Navan parted his lips with his own, pushing his tongue into the kid’s mouth. Fyn’s fingers slid into his hair and he pressed his body up against Nav’s...the weird thing was that the clone knew what he was doing. _Who taught him?_

Navan was about to push the boy away when Fynley let out a little, breathy moan against his mouth. A shock of heat went through Nav and he couldn’t help but kiss Fyn a little harder, wanting to hear that noise again-

Rough, angry hands grabbed him by the shoulders and jerked him away from the Shif.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the lovely comments & the kudos guys. Appreciate all of you x


	6. When Tallin met Rallia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Sorry about the slow updates I'm legit drowning in work lol  
> Thankyou for your patience, and for reading my story, and for leaving comments and kudos  
> It gives me life x

****

**25 th Myrogan 1179 (The same day)**

**Somewhere in space.**

Reid had been floating aimlessly in space for almost two weeks. His radio was silent, his informants and the people who he could pay to tip him off were lost, and Reid was unable to get in touch with them. Police all over the galaxy was cracking down; not only was there a huge boom in child slavery and prostitution, which was illegal in the Cairn Galaxy, but the whole usurpation ordeal on Fayaxiamen made all three galaxies tense and anxious, with patrols everywhere...patrols whose aim was to get a hold of Reid.

The assassin was running out of time – Queen Rozene was unstable, who knows how long it’d be before she’d get impatient with the lack of results. Reid had been in the dark for ages though; Woorud had been a dead end and Reid had left quickly but that meant that he had no leads left. Stupidly Reid wasted time by hanging around this side of the Galaxy because...

Well, because Hamelin was still there. Reid could see the slick shape of _The Pied Piper_ lazily swirling around Woorud after it had disappeared for a few days. It seemed Hamelin had no leads either. Multiple times, lying restlessly in his bed, Reid had thought of just going onto the intercom and making contact with the other assassin, but his pride stopped him in the end. He wanted to be the best, and he didn’t want Hamelin’s help. But they were both at a standstill, and time was ticking. Tallin was like a myth, whispers went around, but nobody actually knew where the Prince had disappeared to.

Saarashik hung belong _The Beelzebub,_ a grey and silent planet, and it was Hamelin who broke first.

 _“Hey there, Bub.”_  His voice crackled over the intercom as Reid was spinning in his captain’s chair, smoking a cigarette out of boredom more than anything else and running his hand through his messy blond hair. The man jumped when he heard the voice, and his heart skipped a beat.

“Hamelin,” he managed. _Why am I happy to hear him?_ Reid quickly gathered himself, “What do you want, you little shit?” he grumbled.

 _“You’ve got any info, Reid?”_ Elin’s voice was teasing, playful, the way it always was. He was irritating.

“I wouldn’t tell you if I did,” Reid snarled, though he wasn’t really that mad about what Elin had told him at the club, “Not again anyway.”

A soft sigh sounded on the other side. Reid looked out of his spacious window out at the galaxy outside, and saw _The Pied Piper,_ hanging there in the air, so close and yet so far.

“ _I don’t have anything, Reid,”_ Hamelin admitted off-handed, “ _Come down to Saarashik, let’s talk, brainstorm.”_

“You want to _brainstorm?”_ Reid asked in shock, “with _me?”_

“ _Listen,”_ Hamelin sounded a little serious, “ _If we don’t find that Princeling soon we’re both fucked, and you know it. I don’t want to work with you any more than you want to work with me, but it is what it is,”_ Reid couldn’t help but see the sense in his words, _“We need to try and find a lead. Unless you have one and you just don’t want to share?”_ his voice turned almost into a purr.

“I don’t,” Reid said briskly, “You’re right. I hate you, and you’re a pain in the arse, but let’s do it.”

***

Saarashik was a dead, dead planet, grey and steely with no trees, no nature, just bulky, industrial buildings jutting up into the harsh sky. The species that inhabited it were the Ubloit, the cyborgs, as cold and unfeeling as this whole planet. Saarashik was neutral – _Bub_ and _The Pied Piper_ were granted permission to land. Their ships were the only ones in the parking lot differentiating from the rows of identical, grey ones. _The Bub_ was ungainly and awkward, _Piper_ was sleek and pretty.

Hamelin was sleek and pretty too, sauntering over out of his ship, dressed in black head to toe. His raven hair swept over his white forehead, his bizarre, pointy ears sticking out. He had his classic smirk in place as he came to stand a few feet away from the other assassin.

“Reid,” he smiled and cocked his head to the side, regarding the blond with sparkling eyes, “You look good.”

“Cut the shit, Hamelin,” Reid rolled his eyes.

Hamelin smiled, as if he found Reid cussing him adorable, “Right well,” he glanced at the grey buildings disappearing in the fog in the sky, “Wanna go grab a drink? Coffee or something?” His eyes were really sparkly.

“This isn’t a _joke,_ Hamelin,” Reid snapped, “How long has it been since we left Fayaxiamen-“

“Three months and twenty two days,” Hamelin interrupted casually.

Reid shoved his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, “Right. I feel like we don’t have a lot of time left. We need to figure out our next move.”

Hamelin startled Reid by suddenly sliding an arm through his. The Shif looked at him in shock – he and Hamelin had known each other for years but they had never _touched._ And now Hamelin was hugging himself into Reid’s side as if they were _friends..._ no, more than that. The Shif’s face burned and he looked down at the other assassin, who looked happy and oblivious.

“What are you doing?” Reid gritted out over the pounding of his heart.

Hamelin smiled at him, “Let’s go exploring and do what we do best; get some fucking information.”

Reid was going to protest but Hamelin started walking then, pulling the bigger man along. They strode through the city happily, getting occasional and uncaring glances from the Ubloits. Saarashik had no shops, no restaurants. It was all hangars, filled with spaceships and vehicles. The Ubloit were soldiers and Reid felt unnerved surrounded by creatures he knew weren’t really alive even though they looked like Shifs – they were hammering away at metals and working on machines, and carrying big guns on their big backs, looking at the intruders with blank gazes. Reid never thought he’d admit it but he was glad for Hamelin’s warmth, hanging off his arm.

“Okay genius so where to?” Reid asked; all the buildings looked like a dead end to him. What could the Ubloits ever tell them?

“ _Stars,_ Reid,” Hamelin rolled his eyes, “Why can’t you lighten up for once? We’re having a nice time, aren’t we?”

He smiled, so _sweetly,_ that for a second Reid believed him. Then he dug his fingers into Hamelin’s arm.

“We’re here for a job,” he hissed.

“I know,” Hamelin said, quieter. Reid glanced at him, but the Charasean was looking at the ground. His eyelashes were dark and long. Reid looked away.

They walked for a bit, silent. The streets were neat and clean, like the Ubloit, and Hamelin didn’t speak another word, which was weird for him. He was always flirty and sassy...but not this time. This time Reid felt like he said something wrong...and he felt...bad? about it? It was weird.

_I shouldn’t feel bad. He’s a shit._

It was getting dark outside, the sky growing charcoal. Reid and Hamelin rounded the corner and, to their surprise, they saw a bar there. Open, and spilling neon blue light into the street.

“Well look at that!” Hamelin perked up, and then dragged Reid inside.

It was empty, the bar, save for the Ubloit bartender. The walls were white, tables tall and bleached complete with bar chairs.

“Huh,” Reid looked around, “Must be only for visitors.”

Hamelin took a seat at a table by the window and smiled invitingly at Reid. The blond rolled her eyes and glanced at the bartender, “Can we just get some water please?”

“Ugh, you’re such a bore,” Hamelin rolled his eyes as Reid slid into the seat opposite him.

“Look Saarashik is a dead end,” he repeated what he had been saying for the past hour, “I say we get the fuck off this planet and try another lead.”

“Oh yeah, like what?” Hamelin asked, his smile melting away. The Ubloit bartender brought their water and the Charasean took a sip. Then another. Then he drained his drink, “You gonna drink that?” he pointed to Reid’s glass. The blond shook his head.

“Maybe backtracking is the best idea,” he said, “Maybe going back to Arossa, even Fayaxiamen...,” he paused suddenly. Hamelin looked distracted, looking out of the window. He had finished Reid’s glass too.

The Shif’s eyes narrowed. There was something different about Hamelin; his cheeks were tinted pink, eyes looked a little glassy, fingers twitching.

“Are you okay? You look kinda flushed...you sick or something?” Reid asked, trying to act casual, like he didn’t really care.

“No,” Hamelin replied – almost snapped – Reid was taken aback and kind of confused, “I’m fine.”

“Riiiight,” Reid said, “So; new plan. We get off this stupid planet and get back to Arossa, we ask our sources and try to figure out why the fuck Tallin seems to have fallen through a black hole. We find him, we kill him, we get the money-“

“We?” Hamelin looked at Reid, all wide-eyed. Then he laughed. Reid rolled his eyes.

“Stars, you’re annoying.”

“You’re looking for Prince Tallin?” a cold voice asked.

Reid looked at the corner of the room. In the darkness there sat another Ubloit. He had one eye, grey hair. He looked old...but not aged. He also looked angry, if that was even possible for a cyborg.

“You talk too loud, Reid,” Hamelin smiled.

“You know something?” Reid demanded, “What’s your name?”

“My name is Greige,” the Ubloit replied, “and I suggest you get off this planet before I run you off.”

Reid blinked, “You what?”

“You heard the man,” the bar tender replied, “We don’t harbour assassins. Out.”

Reid looked at Hamelin. The Charasean was looking out of the window again, even more flushed than before. Reid stood up.

“Right. Let’s go.” Hamelin didn’t react, “ _Hamelin.”_ He hissed.

“Huh?” the Charasean looked up, blinked.

“Come _on,”_  Reid said urgently. He grabbed Hamelin’s hand. It burned in his.

He pulled the man out into the cold night. They hurried towards the parking lot, stumbling. Well, Hamelin was stumbling, lagging behind Reid who hand to pull him along. The Charasean was acting off but Reid didn’t know why and he didn’t really care. Suddenly Saarashik seemed hostile and dangerous. Reid was glad when he saw _Bub_ again a few minutes later.

Then Reid was faced with a dilemma. He let go of Hamelin’s hand.

“So-“

“I’m gonna go,” Hamelin hugged himself. He looked very off now – nervous, “If I find out anything, I’ll let you know.”

“Hey, Hamelin-,” the words spilled from Reid’s mouth before he could stop them. He wanted to make sure Hamelin was okay, but the man had already rushed off, disappearing in the fog. Moments later the lights turned on inside _Piper._

Reid sighed, ran a hand through his hair, “This job is gonna be the end of me.”

He climbed onto the _Bub_ and was happy when the legs of his ship finally left Saarashik. He felt that way too often with places he visited now; he liked space but he also wondered if he’d ever fit in on a planet. He remembered the beauty of Arossa. He wanted to return there...

The galaxy opened up around him slowly as he left Saarashik’s atmosphere, stars twinkling into view as planets hovered in the back like phantoms. Reid sighed. He had to get a move on; he had to open a jar of time and figure out _what the fuck to do._

He put _Bub_ on autopilot, and reached for a jar of time. Just as he was about to crack it open he realised that something was wrong. It took him a moment to spot it in the darkness of the galaxy.

 _The Pied Piper_ was frozen, stuck in the air a while away. The lights were low, but the _Piper_ wasn’t moving. Reid frowned, and his hand moved by itself. Before he knew it he was speaking onto the intercom.

“Hamelin.” He said. There was crackling for a second, and then came his voice. It was shaky and anxious.

 _“What?”_ he asked.

“What’s wrong?” Reid said, “Why aren’t you moving?”

 _“I-I’m fine,”_ Hamelin replied, but he was clearly not fine. Then he laughed, “ _Hey, Reid,”_ his voice was softer, “ _Are you worried about me? That’s cute.”_

“Shut up,” Reid snapped, blushing.

 _“I’m fine,”_ Hamelin laughed again, _“I’ll let you know if I get any info, okay?”_

“Okay,” Reid replied, not convinced, and flipped the intercom off. Things were taking a very weird turn.

**26 th Myrogan 1179 (one day later).**

**Lossa.**

His mouth was dry. _Stars,_ his mouth was dry. His throat was parched. He was freezing cold. The boy opened his eyes and offending light streamed in, making him immediately squeeze them shut again and let out a little, pathetic whimper. Fynley rolled over onto his side, feeling a throbbing pounding in his head. He fell right off whatever he was lying on and hit the floor with a painful thud.

“Stars,” he groaned, opening his eyes and blinking blearily. He was met with the sight of a white ceiling, encrusted with icicles and snow. He exhaled in surprise, and his breath turned into a white cloud in front of his face. He blinked again. Sunlight danced on the ceiling, though Fyn had no idea where it was coming from.

The clone frowned, sat up and looked around. He was laying on the cold floor of a cell, hands buried in two snow-banks. The walls, ceilings and floors were all covered in hoarfrost. There was no door and no windows, the mysterious sunlight coming seemingly from nowhere. Apart from the wooden bench Fyn had fallen off of, the only thing not frozen in the cell, there was no furniture.

The boy rubbed the back of his head where he had whacked it on the floor. His brain throbbed, his eyes ached.

Panic fell over him like water.

“Oh my stars...,” Fynley whispered, breath clouding in front of him. He stood up, shivering both from alarm and the piercing cold. He looked around, terrified. How did he get here? He couldn’t remember anything...he went to the club, and he remember Navan, and he was being so lovely and telling him about his pirating days...and then it was darkness.

And now Fyn was here, in a cell.

 _I messed up,_ he realised with a sick feeling in his gut. He must’ve gotten arrested last night, that was the only explanation as to why he was here. And if he got arrested...they knew. Everyone knew that he was a clone.

“Oh...,” Fynley pressed a hand over his mouth, feeling a sob building up in his throat. He was going to die. He wasn’t going back on the _Mnemosyne._ He wasn’t seeing Navan again. Just as his life was about to begin, it came to a halting, horrible end.

Fyn closed his eyes. For a little while, just a little while, he had been happy. _Actually_ happy.

How would they destroy him? Would he get sent back to Earth? Stars, he hoped not. That planet had only painful memories for him. Would it be quick, and painless? Or would it hurt...Fynley was tired of being in pain, he didn’t want it to hurt anymore. His creator had hurt him enough...

Fynley slid back down to the floor. He wanted it all over now. He just wished it could fade to black, that he wouldn’t have to live in the last miserable moments of his life.

The clone buried his head in his arms and closed his eyes. _Think about happy things,_ he thought, trying to swallow down his hysteria.

Navan. He was the only good thing that ever happened to Fyn. His warm arms wrapped around Fyn at night, keeping him safe. His tender, lovely voice. His kind words. He didn’t care that Fyn was a clone. He liked him the way he was, made him feel important and needed and accepted...

A beep sounded and Fyn’s head jerked up. An illuminated outline of a door appeared in the wall, and the frost around it melted as if spring had come. The clone scrambled to his feet, pressing his back against the cold wall, feeling the cold seep through his shirt, terrified. _No, no, no, no..._

The door shimmered out of existence, revealing a triangular hole in the wall. On the other side, dressed in a purple uniform, was a Lowizian guard.

“Come with me.”

Fyn didn’t even register the guard’s face as he scurried after them, shaking. _This is it..._ he didn’t pay attention to his surroundings but vaguely noticed that the cold had ebbed away and that the walls weren’t frozen anymore. The guard led him down a corridor, then another, then they passed through another shimmering door, and then-

“Stars, _Fynley!”_

The boy’s head snapped up. He was in what appeared to be a waiting room with rows of floating chairs. Navan was there, looking tired but relieved, hair sticking up everywhere.

He rushed over to Fyn and almost gave him a hug before remembering the laws of Lossa and stopping himself. Fyn’s eyes filled with tears, “W-What...”he had never thought he’d see Navan’s tanned, unshaven, grinning face ever again.

“You’re free to go,” the Lowizian guard said.

“N-Nav,” Fyn whispered, “What’s...what’s going on?”

“Ah, shit,” Nav sighed, “you don’t remember, do you? You got drunk, I s’pose but...”

“Why am I...why did I get arrested?” Fyn whispered, “Do they k-know...?”

“No,” Navan smiled then, a little sheepish, and rubbed the stubble on his dark chin, “So...uh...well, last night you got a bit drunk and you kissed me and then we both got arrested for touching and-“

“I-I kissed you?!” Navan blurting, going bright red. Nav shrugged.

“It’s whatever, it happened. My crew bailed me out and now I’ve bailed you out and we can go.”

Fyn honestly didn’t know whether he should feel relieved because he wasn’t getting sentenced to death and his secret was safe, or to feel utterly mortified because he had _kissed Navan._

In the end he decided to be both.

“C-Can we go h-home?” he stuttered, and he realised that to him, home was the _Mnemosyne._ Navan just nodded.

“Yeah, yeah come on.”

Fynley floated out behind Nav. In the daylight Lossa looked different; the egg-shaped buildings were no longer see-through, but instead the glass had turned silver, shielding whatever was happening inside from the curious eyes of the outsiders. The sky had a green hue to it and there was no sun in sight despite the warmth in the air.

Fyn shivered, his back wet from the cell.

He continued shaking as they walked towards the _Mnemosyne,_ parked where they had left it the night before; he felt dirty after sleeping in the cell, and stank of alcohol and vomit. His head was still throbbing painfully, and his mouth was still dry. But he was so relieved. He looked at Navan walking in front of him, his broad shoulders, his dark, purple hair sticking up everywhere.

The _Mnemosyne_ lowered the ramp as the crew saw the two of them approaching. When Fyn’s feet touched it he finally felt safe. The ship was like a mother, protecting Fynley from the outside world that seemed to want to hurt him.

 _I kissed Navan,_ the reminder made shame burn in Fyn’s throat. The boy anxiously gripped his t-shirt. The ramp closed behind him, shutting off the light of Lossa. Fynley exhaled.

“I-,” the clone started.

Navan turned to face him and roughly pulled Fynley into the hug. The boy was enveloped in warmth, face pressed into Navan’s shoulder. The Captain smelled like spices and the sea back on Earth 6.2.

“I was worried about you,” Nav said quietly. Fynley’s heart pounded viciously and all of his blood rushed to his face.

“I-I’m sorry,” Fyn wanted to cry. He gripped at Nav’s back, “I’m s-sorry for kissing you -“

“Shhh, shush,” Navan stroked his hair, “It’s fine. You were drunk.”

But it wasn’t fine, because in that moment Fynley realised that Navan was the only person he ever wanted to kiss again.

**(The same day)**

**_Somewhere in space._ **

“Starsdammit!” Hamelin hit the starboard in frustration. His ship still wasn’t working, twenty four hours after it had spluttered and died on him, and he was still floating in space like a fucking meteor.

Moreover his heat was just about to hit him. He could feel it, crawling underneath his skin, making him feverish and irritable. _Fuck,_ how could he let this happen? He hadn’t had a heat in months, always swallowing suppressants like they were painkillers to prevent himself from being vulnerable. And now he had run out and he knew that he’d have to get through it properly this time.

While stuck in space.

“Fuck this,” Hamelin hit the starboard again, fuming. He could see _Beelzebub,_ still hanging about Saarashik. _Why_ was Reid _still_ here? Hamelin wanted him to go...or maybe he wanted him to come here. Yes, he definitely wanted that. “Fuck,” the man buried his face in his hands. He hated feeling vulnerable, and he hated that he wanted Reid so much.

Heats were a bitter reminder to him that he would always be alone.

The Omega got off his seat and turned to the back of his small ship. There wasn’t even a door separating the main part of the cabin from the bedroom, which was just a large queen sized bed shoved between the two walls. A door led off to the bathroom, another to the back room where Elin stored all the heaters, generators and other junk. _Should I give out a distress call?_ He wondered. Normally he would but with his heat so near he was scared; even if someone who wasn’t an Alpha came and saw him in a state it could still be bad.

Hamelin sighed. He’d just have to get through this. He hated how his weakness would put him behind schedule, and probably allow Reid to find and kill Tallin before him. Elin would lose.

He didn’t care right now though, the thought of Tallin somewhere far at the back of his head. He needed to prepare for this fucking heat and make it as bearable as possible. He walked to the bed and pulled extra pillows from underneath it, arranging all the covers and blankets to create a sort of nest. His inner Omega whined happily; he wanted warmth and safety.

“Shut up,” Hamelin gritted at himself. Why couldn’t he have been an Alpha? Or even a fucking Beta...

Elin got water bottles from the supply closet. Already he felt sluggish even though his heat was still some hours away. He stacked the water next to the bed and then did one last desperate sweep for suppressants but they were definitely gone.

Hamelin pulled off his black clothes that had become a staple of his attire and pulled out a white, loose t-shirt, staying in just that and his boxers before diving under his bed in search of some sex toys he was sure he took off Aghamora back in the day.

That’s when a ping sounded through the ship.

“ _Vessel A12-XX ‘Sin’ asking permission to dock.”_

Hamelin sat up and his heart jumped. Right outside his window was a large blue ship – fuck knows where it had come from but it was now extending its walkway towards _Piper_ without Elin granting permission. The Omega scrambled to his feet; the ship was alien, was it a stranger coming to save him? Or maybe it was space pirates...

His inner Omega whined in fear.

“Fuck,” Hamelin swore. He looked around frantically and his eyes landed on _Beelzebub._ The ship had started to move and was heading for _Piper. Reid,_ Elin thought. Was he leaving?

A door opened on _Sin_ and somebody stepped out in a spacesuit. The suit was black and the person had on heavy shoes that allowed them to stick to the walkway as they approached instead of floating off. A helmet prevented Hamelin from seeing their face.

_Maybe they’re here to help._

Elin didn’t have the clarity of mind that he wished he did and so he came to his own door as the other creature disappeared from view. He pressed a button that opened the outer door and heard the person press another button to close it. Then, knowing that there was a buffer zone between him and the vacuum, Elin opened the outer door.

He came face to face with Shar.

The Alpha had his helmet stuck under his arm, his hair pushed back, eyes full of superiority. His smell hit Hamelin like a brick; strong, dominant, scary. The Omega took a step back, afraid, and Shar took a parallel step inside the cabin.

“Hello, Hamelin,” he said, “Looks like you’re having some trouble.”

“W-What are you doing here?” Hamelin hated how his voice shook. His mind was overwhelmed and he didn’t even think about getting any of his weapons. His body was starting to feel hot, yearning for someone to touch him. Unfortunately the only person in close proximity was Shar, and Hamelin _hated_ Shar’s guts. _Shouldn’t have opened that door..._ his mind was still clear enough that he knew what Shar wanted, and he knew what he himself didn’t want – for Shar to be there when his heat properly hit. Because already Elin’s body was trying to pull him closer to the man, lured by his Alpha-smell. His Omega wanted to be mated, fucked, impregnated. Hamelin wanted to fucking shoot the Alpha in the head.

“Nice little ship you’ve got,” Shar said, voice even and controlled. He looked around, and his eyes landed on Elin’s bed, “Ah. You’re prepared then?”

“Fuck off,” Hamelin seethed.

“I can smell it on you, you know?” the Alpha’s cold, grey eyes slid back to Hamelin, “The heat. It’s about to hit then, huh. Came at the right time I suppose. Few more hours and you’d be unable to get out of the nest you made.”

Hamelin was suddenly very aware that he was just in a t-shirt and underwear. He wanted to hide, to disappear. In that moment he was reduced to nothing more than an Omega as Shar’s greedy eyes slid over his body. He hated the feeling.

“You need to leave,” he gritted out. Shar raised an eyebrow.

“Is that so? But who will take care of you during your heat?”

“Definitely not you,” Elin snarled.

“Well then who?” Shar cocked his head to the side and took another step closer. His smell was overwhelming. Elin breathed through his mouth, “You’re stuck out here, all alone, floating in space. Very vulnerable, Hamelin, but then you always were.” Shar was very close then. He reached out and tried to touch the man’s face but Hamelin flinched away, “Such a pretty little Omega,” Shar hummed, “perfect to carry my children-“

Hamelin shoved him away while he still had the strength to, “I’ll kill you, I swear.”

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Shar asked, “In an hour or two you won’t be able to resist me. And then I’ll have what I was supposed to years ago.”

 _Shit. Shit. Shit._ Hamelin was smart – he had all the answers he needed just from looking at the Alpha. “You’re the one who fucked with my ship, right?” Hamelin laughed humourlessly, a little hysterically, “So what, now you’re gonna rape me?”

“Oh, Hamelin, no,” Shar cooed as if talking to a scared child, “Of course not. I’ll just wait till you’re wet and begging for me on that bed. Till you’re so desperate you’ll _ask_ me to do you.”

Hamelin wanted to cry. He actually just wanted to curl up in a ball and cry. He felt uncomfortable in his own skin and now he was facing the realisation that Shar was right; Omegas were programmed for this. This wouldn’t even be considered rape on his planet.

 _I’m not crying in front of him._ Hamelin clenched his jaw and glared at Shar. The Alpha looked at the stash of jars under the starboard, momentarily losing interest in Elin.

“What’s this?” he asked and stepped towards the jars. Hamelin exhaled, glad for the little space between them. That was, until Shar picked up one of the jars and turned it in his head, “It’s time, isn’t it?” Hamelin didn’t reply, just glared. “What if I opened this jar?” Shar wondered aloud, turning the small glass object in his hand. Hamelin felt bile rising in his throat, “I’d make time for us – so much time. Your heat could last the whole month. Would you like that? Would you like an Alpha to fuck you through all that?”

Hamelin and _Piper_ shuddered simultaneously as something suddenly pushed into the ship’s side. Hamelin stumbled and the jar of time almost fell from Shar’s hand.

“What the hell?” the Alpha demanded.

Hamelin dashed for the door. It was pretty clear that another ship had docked on _Piper_ and Elin didn’t even care who it was – anything was better than being stuck here alone with Shar, even getting kidnapped by space pirates. Elin slammed the button opening the outer door.

“For fuck’s sake, Hamelin,” Shar seemed irritated, though still composed, “Why did you have to go and do that?”

Elin slumped against the wall and closed his eyes. The fingertips of his fever brushed over his forehead. He still had time, but not a lot. The outer door to his ship hissed as it opened and in came a very pissed-off looking Reid.

Elin blinked, shocked.

_Of course it’s him._

His stomach filled with relief and he fought the urge to throw himself at the Shif, who was glaring daggers at Shar. Unlike the Alpha, Reid smelled calming. Hs scent of caramel and motor oil filled the cabin and Elin almost moaned, biting his lip to stop himself. He forgot all about the Alpha in the cabin, staring intensely at Reid’s strong, angry profile. _He’s not even an Alpha,_ Elin thought, _but I want him. Only him._

“Who the hell are you?” the Shif demanded.

“I’m Hamelin’s friend,” Shar replied coldly.

“No you’re not,” Hamelin uttered out. Reid glanced at him, he frowned, then looked back at Shar.

“You heard him,” he said.

“What are you? His bodyguard?” Shar spat.

“No. We’re currently working a job together so I’d appreciate if you’d leave my partner’s ship, mate.” Reid’s tone was threatening. Shar had never been a fighter; he preferred to prey on the weak, which was why he had fucked Hamelin’s ship and tried to have his way with him since the man was sixteen.

“You know what, Hamelin?” Shar looked at him, “You can keep doing this, but we both know whose going to win in the end.”

He put his helmet back on and Reid moved aside to let him out, almost punching the button closing the outer door. The moment Shar and his smell was gone, Hamelin slumped with relief. His throat felt dry.

“What the hell was that?” Reid demanded. _You saved me,_ Elin wanted to whisper.

“Why did you do that?” he asked instead.

“Huh?”

Hamelin opened his eyes. Reid was so gorgeous, and so close, “Why did you come here?”

“You heard me, didn’t you?” Reid snapped. He seemed annoyed and a little...embarrassed? His cheeks were somewhat red. He ran his hand through his overlong blond hair, “We’re kind of a team now, I need you to be in one piece if I want to keep my life.”

 _Oh._ Hamelin’s heart fell a little. He cracked a smile, “Right.”

Reid frowned and hesitated for a moment, “Are...are you okay? You look like shit.”

It wasn’t really what Elin wanted to hear. “S-Since when do you care, Reid?”

It was a shaky, weak response. Hamelin looked at Reid, and then Reid looked at him, a silent battle between them. Then Reid gave in and closed the space between them, pressing his big, cold hand to Hamelin’s forehead.

The Omega gasped as slick gushed from inside him, wetting his thighs. _Fuck._ He squeezed his eyes shut. _Too close, too close..._

“You have a fever,” Reid said. Hamelin pushed his away lightly.

“I’m fine,” he could barely breathe, “Get out.”

“What?”

“ _Get out.”_

“Right, shit,” Reid held his hands up in surrender, “Sorry for fucking asking.” He opened the outer door and snatched up his helmet from where he left it on the floor.

When he was gone, Hamelin collapsed on the bed, shoving his face in the pillows. His body throbbed with need. Why did this have to happen to him? Why did Reid make him feel like this, like the heat was coming faster? Why did he smell so good, and why had Elin not cared about Reid seeing him dressed the way he was, but he had cared when Shar looked? Why did he want Reid’s eyes to eat him up...?

“Fuck’s sake,” the man whispered shallowly. He hated being an Omega.

**1 st Aodh 1180 (3 days later)**

**Golbahar.**

Tallin laid on his bed. Outside he could hear the birds chirping.

“Shut the fuck up,” he whispered under his breath and closed his eyes. It was hot, way too hot, the summer having reached its zenith. He thought it was bad when he first came to this star-forsaken planet sixteen days ago, and yet now it was worse. The air was still, the sun beating down on the planet relentlessly throughout the day. And each day Tallin was forced to work in the field like some peasant and to top it all off, he _still_ dressed like a girl. He didn’t know how much longer he could walk around with a bra on, stuffed with socks. It was ridiculous and humiliating.

“Aestla!”  Thorne shouted from downstairs and Tallin closed his eyes and ignored her, hoping the Lynx would go away. No such luck. “Aestla!” the shout came again, “We’re almost ready to go!”

Tallin opened his eyes. _What did I do to deserve this?_ He thought helplessly. He picked up the letter that he had picked up from the doormat an hour ago and read through it for the hundredth time.

_Dear Aestla._

_You don’t know who I am but I am a dear friend of Captain Cylian Iliev of_ The Hannibal, _as well as of your aunt, uncle and father. We have all been alerted as to your situation and I warn you now that there are two assassins looking for you. One is a dark haired Charasean, the other a blond Shif. I do not know their names but I overheard them speaking about you on Saarashik some days ago. Excuse this old fashioned communication, but it’s best nobody tracks this down to you. I am also assured that the people who took you in respect privacy and thus won’t open this letter. Be on your guard._

_Wishing you luck._

_Greige Vilaro._

Tallin didn’t know who Greige was, but he seemed to be a friend. The Prince was too afraid to contact _Hannibal_ and ask them to confirm this, but he didn’t know what to do. Honestly the letter reminded him of his harsh and dire situation and-

“Aestla!” Thorne shouted again, “Come on now! The festival is starting!”

Tallin groaned. It was the first of Aodh, the new year was upon the galaxy and undoubtedly everywhere everyone was celebrating. Tal remembered his last new year’s; his parents had thrown a grand party in the Briallan Palace, and Tallin had gotten very drunk despite the fact he was only sixteen at the time. He had had so much fun, and would’ve never thought that just a year later he’d be spending the holiday with practical strangers in a tree-house on an alien planet.

A knock came on the door.

“Go away,” Tallin groaned. The door opened anyway. _So much for privacy..._

“Hey, Aestla,” Grey’s voice floated over, irritating Tal more. Why did it always _have_ to be Grey, why was he always _so_ nice? It was so fucking annoying, “Are you...um...not feeling well?” the Lynx asked anxiously.

Tallin turned his head and glared at the boy in the door. He was wearing a loose green shirt and brown trousers, his silver hair pushed out of his forehead, bright green eyes worried. Meanwhile Tallin was on the bed, in a knee-length white skirt, wearing a fucking itchy, hot wig, and being insanely jealous of how comfortable Grey looked.

“I’m fine,” the Hybrid growled, “I just don’t want to go to this stupid festival.”

Grey’s expression fell a little, so he looked like a kicked pet, “You don’t celebrate the new year?”

“I do,” Tal sighed, “Gods, you’re stupid. I just don’t want to go to some tree festival with you, that’s it.”

“Am I really that bad?” Grey asked quietly. Tallin sat up, angry.

“For fuck’s sake, Grey!” he snapped, “I’m not talking about _you_ specifically. I don’t _care_ about you. I don’t want to go with your bloody fam-“

He didn’t get to finish because just then Covi came barrelling into the room, shoving past his older brother’s legs. For some reason he was wearing a red cloak, and the happiest expression Tal had ever seen on a child. He blinked when Covi stopped in front of him, grinning. He pointed at the door, then grabbed Tal’s hand.

“Oh no!” the Prince tried to jerk his hand free but Covi’s grip was surprisingly strong for someone so young, “I’m not going!”

Covi’s face mimicked the same hurt expression Grey’s wore. His shoulders slumped.

“Come on, Aestla,” Grey said, “It’ll be fun, I promise.”

Covi tugged on Tallin’s hand again weakly. The Prince let out an exasperated sigh, but he could see the pros of this plan. If he stayed here, in this heat, he’d just continue wallowing in misery and re-reading Greige’s letter. He might as well distract himself.

“Fine,” he stood up, “But I’m complaining the whole way.”

Both Grey’s and Covi’s faces lit up brightly. The younger brother didn’t let go of Tal’s hand. The Prince had to grumpily admit that the kid was kind of adorable.

“So where are we going then?” Tallin asked as Covi waddled clumsily down the wooden stairs, refusing to let Tal go as if he thought the moment he did the Prince would sprint back to his room. That would’ve been impossible since Grey was descending behind him, blocking his way out.

“You’ll see.”

The rest of the family was waiting outside the cottage. Thorne was wearing a pretty green dress that matched Grey’s shirt, Vallie had flowers in her hair and was dreamily pulling the petals off one. Lorcan looked irritated, as always, and Archie was vibrating with impatience, white hair curled into a  complicated bun.

“Finally,” she breathed when Grey, Covi and Tallin walked out. The Prince bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from snapping at her.

“Right,” Thorne offered the kids a tired smile, “shall we go then?”

Music could already be heard in the tree-tops, and the sky peeking through the lush leaves was amber; the sun was setting. Among the trees lights were beginning to glow.  In the Down, weaving between the tree trunks, were the villagers, walking cheerfully towards a goal Tallin didn’t know. They held lanterns in their hands, swaying and golden; the women wore skirts and flowers, the men flowy shirts and hats. Everybody was dressed their best.

When the Listrae’s and Tallin descended to the Down the music grew louder. It was folky, jolly, echoing through the forest. People were laughing, young couples spinning each other around. The community was celebrating, but Tallin was in no mood to join them. His eyes danced over the animalistic people around him; was that butterfly woman the assassin? Or maybe the hedgehog man? Tallin probably wouldn’t know till he had a gun pointed at his forehead...

“Cheer up,” Grey stopped walking to fall back next to Tallin – the boy hadn’t realised he had slowed down.

“Piss off,” Tal snapped. Grey laughed, as if Tal was amusing, as if he was cute and insignificant, as if his anger had no power. It made Tallin really angry, “Gods,” he snapped, “why are you always making fun of me?”

Grey blinked, “Huh? Fun of you?”

Just then a little group of giggling teenage girls rushed past, “Hi Grey!” they all cooed like a flock of geese. Tallin winced. Their hair was multicoloured, and they had actual wings protruding from their backs. Their cheeks were flushed as they took Grey in.

The Lynx looked a little embarrassed, a blush rising to his cheeks. He rubbed the back of his neck, “Hi, girls.”

“Is that your girlfriend?” one asked teasingly as they all looked at Tallin with curiosity and...amusement, like they didn’t think he was good enough for Grey? _As if I’d ever go anywhere near him anyway,_ Tallin thought glumly.

“Fuck no,” he snapped. Grey might’ve been somewhat attractive, but Tallin could definitely do _much_ better. The bird girls gave him weird looks, as if his cursing offended them, and then scurried off, promising to find Grey at the fair.

“Fan-club?” Tallin snorted.

“No!” Grey blushed, “They’re just being nice...”

Tal rolled his eyes, “Right. Sure.”

Grey smiled down at him, green eyes twinkling. Tallin’s throat felt tight, “What?” he uttered.

“Nothing,” Grey said, “I’m just starting to think you hate everyone, not just me.”

“Fuck’s sake,” Tallin shoved past him and joined the rest of the family. For some reason his cheeks burned. Why was Grey so... _ugh._ He was easily the nicest person Tal had ever met; he helped Thorne with the kids, especially Covi and Val, he never complained, he was dedicating to running every day in the mornings at an ungodly hour, he did his work in the fields exceptionally well, he cleaning the house and made breakfast...he was everything Tallin wasn’t. The Prince was an only child and he had always been spoiled by his parents and their lovers and everybody else at the palace, he was selfish and self-centred, and when he looked at Grey he saw a man he wanted to be.

Not the girl everyone thought he was.

A small hand slipped into Tal’s and when he looked down he saw Covi grinning up at him. Tallin sighed, “You don’t give up, do you?”

Covi didn’t reply, just happily held Tal’s hand as they walked, swinging their arms. Tallin found he didn’t mind so much; he preferred Covi over Grey anyway. It was getting dark fast, the lights from people’s lanterns cast golden shadows on the trees as they passed. _I might as well try and enjoy myself,_ Tal thought.

The trees parted and the familiar working field that the Listrae’s and the other villages worked most days came into view; and it had been completely transformed. Instead of the Juna flowers, the whole field was filled with floating lights, gold and blue and pink, suspended in the air and illuminating the multiple shacks that had been set up in a circular shape. From the delicious smell wafting towards Tal, he could tell they were selling food. A band was sitting on a rise, and the Vlassain were playing the music that had accompanied Tallin since he left the cottage. Families were walking about, eating and playing games at the shacks, winning their children toys and little pets and sweets. In the centre people danced, wild and free and laughing. Dust floated in the air, glowing softly in a multitude of lights and when people plucked it from the air it disappeared in their palms, leaving them laughing.

“What shall we do first?” Archie asked, cheeks red with excitement.

“Uh...,” Thorne glanced around. Vallah took her hand and tugged.

“I want to see the fish,” she whispered dreamily. Sure enough one of the shacks had a massive tank behind it, full of colourful, mythical fish. Thorne exhaled.

“Right okay-“

But Covi was already tugging Tallin in the other direction, towards a shack full of flames in jars, “I don’t think Covi wants to look at fish,” Tal admitted.

“Okay,” Grey swooped his little brother up and sat him on his shoulders – the little one clapped his hands in glee, “Me and Aestla will take Covi.”

“It’s Aestla and _I,”_ Tallin pointed out grumpily. Grey grinned.

“See? She agrees.”

“Fine,” Thorne said, “Meet me back here in half an hour,” she looked at the remaining siblings, “Archie, Lorcan, where do you guys want to go?”

“I’ll come see the fish,” Archie said and stuck to her sisters. Lorcan shrugged.

“Guess I’m with these lot,” he turned to Tallin. The boy fought the urge to roll his eyes; as much as he disliked Grey, he liked Lorcan even less. The guy was an asshole, and he felt even more entitled than Tal, always demanding shit. No manners whatsoever.

“Whatever,” Tallin said.

The four of them walked off towards the stall Covi was interested in. It turned out that the Vlassain in charge was selling jars of coloured fire for very cheap and Grey got Covi a little one. More people showed up to the party, and more were dancing, even more drinking. Grey ended up dragging his brothers and Tal to another stall with food in it. Honestly Tal was a _little_ impressed that Grey managed to stay positive with both him and Lorcan being grumpy.

“Should we get a treat?” Grey asked excitedly while Covi plastered his face to his jar.

“I don’t want anything,” Tal wrinkled his nose.

“Wow, someone’s bitchy,” Lorcan interjected.

“Lorcan!” Grey glared at his brother, “Be nice.”

“Whatever. I’m going to find my friends.” The silver-haired Lynx turned on his heel and strolled off. Grey’s shoulders slumped. He no longer looked cheerful, and Tal felt a little bad. He swallowed.

“You know,” he bit his lip, “I’ll have that treat.”

Grey looked at him, and his expression softened. Tallin’s heart fluttered, “Okay, come on then.”

Grey bought the ‘treats’ which ended up being little dough-balls with green leaves growing out of them. Tallin turned his around in his hand, unconvinced.

“ _This_ is a treat?” he asked. Covi had already inhaled his, and Grey laughed, his good mood having returned.

“Just try it.”

Hesitantly Tallin popped the weird food into his mouth. He hated to admit it but he trusted Grey... sweetness and spice exploded in Tal’s mouth as the ball melted away to nothing, coating his tongue in sugar.

“Woah,” he gasped, pressing a hand to his mouth, “That was-“

“Delicious, right?” Grey grinned, “See? You’re having fun.”

“I-,” Tal was about to protest, but he just blushed instead, “Shut up.”

“Hi Grey!”

One of the bird girls had re-appeared suddenly. Tallin rolled his eyes.

“Oh hi Erssa.”

“Wanna dance?” the bird girl – Erssa – stuck her hand out. It was small, bones delicate like a...well, like a birds. Her nails were long and sharp and she had feathers in her hair.

“Um, I...,” Grey glanced at Tal.

“Yeah, go, I don’t care,” the Prince leaned against the wall of the closest shack and crossed his arms over his chest. It was true; he didn’t care what Grey did. The Lynx smiled at him.

“Okay. Wait for me here.”

And then Erssa was pulling him off into the dancing crowd. Tallin’s eyes automatically went to them. Grey was a surprisingly good dancer, albeit a little awkward, spinning a happy and laughing Erssa around.  He too was smiling. _He looks good,_ Tal thought, and it dampened his mood. He remembered the dancing at the palace; his father was a magnificent dancer, and his mother was the most graceful creature on Fayaxiamen. Zea was wild and captivating and even shy and mousy Wyliam looked sweet when dancing with Tal’s father. When Tal danced he was nothing special, just another pretty prince in the crowd.

He wondered what would happen if he joined the dancers now, skirts spinning. Would any of the boys looks at him? Would Grey look at him? Everywhere he saw beautiful girls, so probably not. Tal wasn’t even a girl but that didn’t matter. He wasn’t an exceptional boy and he wasn’t an exceptional girl and he wasn’t an exceptional dancer.

“Gods,” he whispered, pressing a hand over his eyes, “I need to stop feeling sorry for myself.” He was a Prince, the future King. Even if that was the only remarkable thing about him, he didn’t care. He looked at the dancing crowd again and watched the couples twirling each other around. He tried to spot the Listrae’s in the waves of people but it was impossible, so Tal just stayed put. Some time later, when he was so bored out of his mind that he contemplated trying to search for Thorne and the kids, Grey returned. He was flushed, his grey hair sticking to his forehead, a giddy grin on his face.

“Thanks for waiting,” he said, “you should’ve come to dance.”

“No thanks,” Tallin pushed himself off the wall, “Are we going back then?”

“Oh no,” Grey’s eyes twinkled, “The fun’s only just starting. We’re going to go drinking in the barn.”

“ _Barn?”_ Tal’s eyes bulged, “You’re not serious.”

Grey rolled his eyes good-naturedly, “Okay, if you don’t want to come then just go back to the cottage. I’m going to go meet some friends and have a good time.”

He actually turned away from Tal, as if tired of his constant complaining. The Prince bit his lip; he didn’t actually mind half the shit he whined about, but he just liked that Grey put in effort to make him happy, that he gave him attention... _but it could be anyone,_ the Hybrid told himself, blushing, _if anybody was like that I’d like it, not just Grey._

“Fine,” Tallin said, and Grey stopped walking to smile at him over his shoulder. The Prince shuffled to walk next to him, pretending to be grumpy when in reality he was quite enjoying Grey’s presence, “I’m sure Thorne will be ecstatic when she finds out.”

“She doesn’t care; I’ve been doing this every year since I was fifteen,” Grey explained as they walked, attempting to avoid the huge crowds, angling themselves around the Vlassain, “She wants me to be a kid; we’ve all had to grow up fast and yet she’d prefer I didn’t help her and enjoyed my teenage years.”

Grey’s voice was light, but what he was talking about wasn’t. _Their parents are dead,_ Tal remembered. His chest seized up; what if he’d become an orphan as well? What if his parents were murdered by Rozene and her assassins...

“Hey,” Grey said softly, looking down at Tal, “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Tallin managed, feeling bad, “I should be the one asking you if you’re okay.”

Grey just smiled. They finally broke out of the stuffy warmth of the crowd and Grey plunged into the forest that hugged the edge of the fair, dark and shadowy where the festival was full of laughter and music. Among the trees Grey moved a bit like a lynx, Tallin decided as he followed him down the shady path, slow, back muscles rippling through his shirt. He was relaxed, laid back. The sound of the music and the villagers faded away.

“I can’t see anything,” Tallin admitted. Even when he craned his neck up he saw no lights in the trees – they must’ve been in a different part of the forest, away from the village. Grey looked over at Tal over his shoulder and his eyes gleamed a solid gold – Tal almost screamed.

“Relax,” Grey said – almost _purred –_ “I can see in the dark.”

He seemed to be in his element, moving swiftly and gracefully while Tallin stumbled over roots and got his skirt caught on branches. Finally a small, golden shaft of light came into view and as the two boys approached Tal saw that it was, indeed, a barn. It was big, wooden, and on a little raise. Behind it, dying away in the shadows, were ghostly bulks of other buildings. Tallin’s blood chilled.

“W-What is that?” he asked. There were no lights to be seen, and the buildings were half-collapsed, abandoned.

“Don’t worry,” Grey didn’t seem freaked out at all, his eyes returning to normal now that there was light, “This is the old village – it stood here until the floods came and the villagers moved up into the trees,” seeing Tal’s anxiety he added gently, “They’re just houses, you’re safe with me.”

“S-Shut up!” Tallin spluttered, “I don’t need you to protect me, I’m a big b- girl.”

Grey smiled, “I know.”

They climbed up the steps to the door of the barn and Grey pushed it open, slipping inside with the ease of someone who was confident in his surroundings. Tallin wasn’t. He glanced at the ghost village once more but honestly the thought of staying out here alone was scary, so he begrudgingly followed Grey into the barn.

It looked like a normal barn, with stacks and stacks of golden hay piling to the high, wooden roof on one side. Someone had set up a floating camp-fire in the centre, and there were a dozen teenagers gathered around it, laughing and passing around bottles of glowing pink liquid. They were all Vlassain; there was a boy that looked like a badger, with dark smudges around his eyes, a nervous-looking fox girl with a flickering tail and, to Tallin’s annoyance, four of the bird-girls, one of them being Erssa.

“Grey!” they all gushed and one stood up, running up to him and clasping his hands, “You came,” she said dreamily, long blue hair tumbling to her waist in light, feathery curls. She peered around the Lynx, “Who’s your little friend?”

“I’m not little,” Tal snapped, “and I’m not his friend.”

The bird girl raised an unimpressed eyebrow, “Why’d he bring you then?” she asked, then perked up and started to pull Grey towards the circle. The Lynx gave Tal a pointed look over his shoulder and the Prince stifled a sigh before following the two of them.

He ended up sat between Grey and the fox-girl.

“We should play a game,” one of the bird girls, the blue-haired leader who seemed to be head over heels for Grey, said with a mischievous smile. _Oh boy,_ Tal thought and almost snatched the jar of liquid that Grey offered him. He took a sip and tried not to pull a face as the bitter liquid burned down his throat. _Stars..._

“Let’s play truth or dare,” the Badger said.

“No!” the Fox blushed, “L-Let’s not.”

“Oh Arina,” the bird-leader rolled her eyes at the fox-girl, “Why must you _always_ be a killjoy? Grey wants to play, don’t you Grey?”

“Sure,” Grey shrugged, “You wanna play?” he asked Tallin but before the boy could reply the bird-leader stood up.

“Okay. Let’s play truth or kiss!”

“Rallia!” Arina blushed even darker, her orange tail flicking with anxiety, _“No!”_

“You don’t have to play, Ari,” the Badger rolled his eyes. The fox girl effectively shut up.

“Uh...what’s truth or kiss?” Tallin asked, already feeling it was something stupid.

“Glad you asked,” the bird-leader, Rallia, smirked, “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name sweetheart.”

“Aestla,” Tallin gritted.

“Aestla,” Rallia smiled, coldly, fakely, “The game is simple. We go around the circle and ask each other questions – as personal and private as possible – and if you don’t want to answer you simply kiss the person to your left.”

Tallin looked to his left and saw the back of the fox-girl’s head. When he turned back around, Grey was looking at him. He was to Grey’s left. Tal could feel a blush creeping up his neck and he decided he agreed with Arina; this was stupid. He looked stupidly around the circle but he didn’t want to kiss the bird girls, and he didn’t want to kiss the Badger either. Arina was the smallest evil.

“Let’s play!” one of the bird girls clapped and they all squealed, which sounded weirdly like chirping. Tal could feel a headache coming on so he drank two long gulps of the mystery alcohol and passed it on as Rallia began.

It was no surprise when she looked at Grey who, conveniently, was to her left, “Grey,” she smirked, “How many people have you kissed?”

The fox girl let out a nervous squeak even though the question wasn’t directed at her. “Gods,” Tal mumbled and took the jar out of Arina’s hands. He needed to be way more drunk for this.

But Grey wasn’t fazed, “Eight,” he said, “Excluding games like this of course.”

“Let’s make that nine,” Arina winked playfully and the circle laughed. Grey smiled bashfully and rubbed the back of his neck, a little uncomfortable. _Weird,_ Tal looked at him, _he’s so good-looking you’d think he would’ve kissed more people._

“Looks like I’m not getting my kiss!” Rallia didn’t seem too bothered, “So Grey, ask away.”

“Uh...Orsan.” Tallin tried not to feel disappointed that Grey didn’t pick him – it’s not like he was special to him or anything...

“Yes, mate?” the Badger smirked. Grey grinned at him; the private, knowing smile of two close friends. Jealousy burned up Tallin’s throat and he clenched his hands into fists – he didn’t _want_ to be friends with Grey and yet now...having him ignore him completely and focus on other people was annoying as hell.

“Which girl do you think is the prettiest?” Grey asked.

“Ah,” Orsan sighed dramatically, “Looks like I’m not answering, mate.” He turned to his left with a big grin and Rallia, who sat there, rolled her eyes while the rest of the group started to voice their protests. Tal just thought the whole thing was stupid as he watched Orsan lean in and kiss Rallia, who hurriedly pulled away and dramatically wiped her mouth while her friends chirped away excitedly.

“Rallia,” Orsan said, “What will it take for you to get with me?”

“Stupid question!” Grey protested, but he was grinning. Tallin chugged more of the drink. He was starting to feel dizzy and a little warm.

“Shut up Grey! Rallia, you have to answer.”

“No thanks,” Rallia replied and with a flourish turned and kissed Erssa on the mouth. The girl squeaked and Tal hid his smile behind his hand at the disappointment shining in the Badger’s eyes.

“Aestla.”

Tallin jerked at the sound of his ‘name’ and looked up. Rallia’s eyes were sparkling when she looked at the boy, and he swallowed nervously. This wasn’t going to be good.

“If you had to have sex with one of the boys, which one would it be?”

A blush crept up Tallin’s face at the crudeness of the question and he choked on his spit, “I-I...,” he looked around helplessly – all eyes were on him. _It’s just a stupid game,_ “I don’t really have many options, do I?”

“Just pick,” Rallia said.

Tal looked at Grey. He looked at Orsan. The Badger was looking at him lazily, but Grey wouldn’t meet his eye. His heart started to pound. It was Grey, of course it’d be Grey...

“Orsan,” Tallin said hurriedly.

“Wahey,” Orsan smirked, “Looks like all the girls want me!”

Rallia rolled her eyes, “Clearly not.”

Tallin glanced hesitantly at Grey. The Lynx wasn’t looking at him.

“Aestla?” Rallia asked.

“Huh?” the boy looked at her.

“You have to pick someone to ask.”

“O-Oh! Uh...Grey,” it was the first person that came into his head.

“Yeah?” the Lynx looked at him. He didn’t look bothered that Tallin picked Orsan over him, and Tallin tried not to feel irritated by that. He was just so used to Grey being so nice to him and always paying attention...but usually Tal didn’t want that. His parents all doted to him, and fussed about, and he usually just wanted to be left alone. Now he’d do anything to have his mother smooth down his hair, identically red to hers, or to have his father playfully ruffle it only to have his mother pat it back down. He wanted Zea to put her arms around his shoulders and affectionately call him ‘kid.’ He wanted Wyl’s big hugs. He wanted to be home.

“Who do you dislike the most in this room?” Tallin asked the first question that came to mind. He didn’t want to be in this barn anymore.

“That’s a horrible question,” Grey complained, “I’m not answering!”

“Looks like Aestla’s getting a kiss,” Orsan teased. Tallin blushed vividly.

“No, it’s fi-,”

Grey grabbed him by the arm, drew him near and pressed a short, hard kiss on his mouth. Tallin was left with a shocked look on his face, completely frozen, staring at Grey, who turned away as if nothing had happened.

Tallin’s heart felt like it was ready to burst out of his chest.

“Aw, you made the poor girl blush!” Rallia laughed. Tallin gritted his teeth and dropped his head, glad the wig was long enough to cover his flaming cheeks, “Next!”

Grey asked Arina a question Tallin couldn’t hear, and then she asked Orsan. For a while Tallin was ignored, just sitting there, trembling and trying to hush his heart. Then Grey was asked another question, and his deep, cheerful voice pulled Tallin back into the room. He realised he was very, very intoxicated.

“Tallin,” it was one of the bird-girls talking. Tal fought the urge to slump against the Lynx next to him; his eye-lids felt heavy, “Are you okay?” her voice sounded like it was underwater. Forgetting the rules of the game, Tal decided to ask his own question.

“Grey,” he tried hard not to sway, voice more slurred than he anticipated, “Who would you fuck in this room?” he echoed Rallia’s earlier question in a more obscene way. Somewhere in the distance he heard chirp-like giggles.

“Hey, it’s not your turn...,” someone protested. Tal didn’t listen.

_Say me, say me, say me, say me..._

“Orsan,” Grey replied.

“Aw, man!” Orsan laughed, “I’m flattered, but ya know I don’t swing that way man.”

It took Tallin a few seconds to comprehend what Grey had just said, and he had to swallow the sudden, bitter disappointment of the Lynx not saying his name. _Fuck. Why?_ But then Tallin realised. Grey had said Orsan. Orsan was a boy. Grey liked boys and Tallin-

Tallin was a boy.

The Hybrid tried to hide his sudden, overpowering smile behind his hand as his heart fluttered in his chest happily. Then he realised what he was doing and he dropped his hand. He didn’t care if Grey was gay. It didn’t matter. First of all, Tal didn’t even _like_ Grey, and secondly even if he did, Grey thought he was a girl so...

Gods, he was drunk.

“I’m not answering that!” the Lynx gasped next to Tal. _Huh? Has someone asked a question? Are we still playing? What’s going on...?_ The Hybrid didn’t even know what he had been asked, but there was suddenly a hand cupping his cheek, and Grey’s mouth pressing to his. He smelled like the forest. Tallin’s eyes fluttered shut. Was it just him or was the kiss longer, lingering? It felt good...to just have Grey there...his mouth was warm...

The whole world was blurry.

“Okay love-birds!” Rallia laughed, “Break it up.”

Grey pulled away and Tallin looked at the bird-girls, dazed. They knew Grey was gay, and only now did Tal realised he was imagining the spite in Rallia’s voice, that they weren’t making moon eyes at the Lynx, that he had been jealous and...

“Hey, Grey,” Rallia frowned, “Think your friend’s a little drunk. Probably best if you go home.”

“Aestla?” Grey asked, worried, gripping Tal’s arm, “You okay?”

“Yeah, ‘m fine,” Tal said, “I’m just a little drunk. I’ll head back myself.” He stumbled to his feet clumsily.

“No way!” Grey was also standing up, all tall and handsome, “I’m not letting your wonder around by yourself.”

“Such a gentleman,” Orsan cooed.

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” the Lynx threw over his shoulder, and then he was herding Tallin back out into the night. The Prince was glad that he wasn’t alone when he saw the ghostly village again. He shuddered.

“You okay?” Grey asked, smiling, eyes twinkling.

“Yeah,” Tal said, a little breathless, “That was...a little fun.” He giggled.

Grey’s smile widened, “I’m glad. It feels like we’re friends.”

“We’re not friends,” Tallin slurred. Grey laughed and the drunk boy couldn’t help but crack a smile back at him. They looked at each other for a few delayed seconds, “Okay,” he breathed, “We’re friends a little.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Grey offered Tallin his arm and the Prince slid his own through it. He could lean on Grey just this once. They headed through the forest together, leaving the barn and the ghost village behind.


	7. When Kai met Aro

****

**1 st of Aodh 1180 (The Same Day)**

**Rum.**

_Gentle, hazy lights peered at Kaio from outside. The boy still couldn’t believe it was daytime, as all he could see was foggy darkness past the window._ I want sunshine, _he thought miserably, leaning his pale chin on his folded arms and gazing outside longingly,_ I want my mama. _But they were gone, and Kai knew that, but he missed them every day, even if he had been at the_ Thirteen Fragments _for years already._

_It rained, water trickling down the scratched up glass of the club. Downstairs the young boy heard music, outside he saw the blurry lights of nearby shops. He hated this planet._

_Kai heard footsteps and he jerked, whirling around in fear. Was it Mr T? Coming to threaten him again for sneaking from the room where he was supposed to be doing his stretches?  The thirteen year old turned around and swallowed, anxiously gripping the windowsill._ Please, _he thought, afraid,_ please don’t let it be Tuvian, let it be one of the others...

_A  complete stranger rounded the corner. For a second Kai thought it was the customer of one of the kids that danced, but then he realised that the person was too young – maybe a couple of years older than Kaio himself. He had short, close-cropped white hair, and the most bizarre eyes Kaio had ever seen, with the whites black,  his pupils were blue, and uncertain. When he saw Kai he froze and stared and the Zalian stared back. His clothes hung on him awkwardly and loosely, just as they did on Kai when he first came here, four years ago.  Kai’s eyes focused on the ragged, red, angry scar that stretched over one of his cheeks._

_“H-Hello,” the white-haired boy choked out.  Kai swallowed. He didn’t like people, not in this place. The only ones he liked were Chi, and Quetta, and Beu because he didn’t speak, and Cavi because he was sweet. He didn’t know who this guy was, and honestly he was a little scared. So he didn’t say anything. “Are...,” the other boy seemed more scared of Kai than Kai was of him, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides, “Are you, um...are you one of the dancers?”_

_Kai nodded mutely. The boy offered him a wobbly, shy smile._

_“I’m Aros,” he said, “O-Or just Aro,” his voice trembled, “I...um...I’m from Calliban. I’m an Ishait.”_

_Kai couldn’t speak, he just stared. Then he finally managed to choke out-_

_“What happened to your face?”_

_Aros winced, “I was a soldier. But I’m here now to be a security guard,” he smiled softly, “I’m gonna be protecting you.”_

_Kai wanted to say that he didn’t need protecting, but honestly...he did. He knew what went about in the_ Thirteen Fragments, _that dancing wasn’t enough. The older kids had to do_ things _that made Kaio’s stomach churn, and he knew that soon Mr T would make him do it too. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to have Aro then, to protect him and-_

 _The Ishait was in front of him then, his hands gripping Kaio’s cheeks. His palms were rough, calloused. Kaio startled, and then the strange boy kissed him. When Kai jerked back, shocked and offended, it was the real Aros standing in front of him, no,_ towering _over him, all self-righteous, and brooding, and silent. Kai stumbled back-_

_The dream shifted. He was on the bed, shaking._

“Come on,” _came the voice, “_ I won’t hurt you little boy, just open your legs.”

_In the dream, Kai knew it was the same day as the one when he met Aros. He had hit the guard then, horrified that the person who had just promised to protect him would kiss him without consent. And then Mr T had come, and he had gotten his first client, and now he was thirteen again, on the bed, about to be-_

“Come on,” _the voice came again,_ “You have to do this, whore. This is the only thing you’re good for.”

Kai flinched awake, eyes wide. There was a warm glow in the bedroom from the lights in the wall and when Kai pushed himself up on his elbows he saw that the rest of the Silvers were just lumps in their beds; outside the window it was dark, as always, and Kaio had no idea what time it was. _It was just a dream,_ he told himself as tremors ran through his body. It hadn’t happened like that in reality, he and Aro had talked, but Kai didn’t remember that. He just remembered the kiss, and the fear...

Sahachi was sitting on Cavi’s bed, a concern look marring his pale features. His dark hair was pulled into a bun at the nape of his neck, exposing his pointed ears. He was dressed in gold. As always his presence calmed Kaio down.

“Hey,” the Zalian said, voice hoarse from sleep. Chi’s eyes slid to him, and the Alpha smiled. 

“Hey, K. You okay?”

The Zalian shrugged, “Dunno. Not really.”

None of them were really alright, and Chi didn’t pry. Kaio sat up properly.

“Why are you here? Is your shift over?”

Sahachi’s jaw tightened and he shook his head, worry flooding his eyes, “No,” he said, Kai an exhausted smile, “It’s Cavi.”

The Shapeshifter’s eyes landed on Cavi. The seventeen year old Karlshaf didn’t look good – his normally silver skin was ashy and lacklustre, his brows furrowed in his sleep. There was a cold cloth on his forehead, his silver hair wet from sweat. His mouth moved silently as he dreamed, limbs twitching. Every few seconds he shivered.

“He’s really sick,” Chi whispered. Kai’s heart clenched. How selfish was he, pondering over Aro and their past and that _one_ stupid kiss when his friend was dying a few beds down from him. Kai peeled back his covers and quietly padded across the room to the Karlshaf’s bed. He stood by Chi and they both watched the younger boy’s chest rise and fall slowly, “I’m so worried,” Chi confessed.

Kaio slipped an arm around the Alpha’s shoulders and hugged his head to his chest. Chi comfortingly rubbed Kai’s back. They stayed like that just for a few moments, strengthening each other. People died on Rum all the time; there was poverty, not enough medicine, not enough sanitation. The Dancers at the _Thirteen Fragments_ might’ve been outwardly clean but inside they were all messed up and Cavi...well, none of them really knew what was wrong. Maybe he was exhausted. Maybe he was infected with something.

 _What if he dies?_ Kai’s throat tightened.

The air in the room suddenly felt like it wasn’t enough to fill Kai’s lungs. He didn’t want to look at Cavi’s face and think about death, so he tugged on a cloak and shoes and slipped out of the room. Chi didn’t ask any questions.

Kai walked past the Gold’s empty room and sneaked through the hazy corridors, careful not to bump into anyone. The second floor was so full of smoke that Kaio found it hard to breathe, and lower down he was oppressed by the moans slipping through the doors. He was glad when he got to the ground floor, and headed straight for the front door. He wanted to get out, go out into the streets, pretend he was a runaway assassin, or dodgy mechanic, or trafficker, and not some prostitute. He hated this nightclub, he hated how dark everything was. Even after all this time.

He remembered a better time on Fealo, before the war destroyed everything. The lush blue fields, the bright skies. Rum was like a nightmare, a never-ending maze of crime, smoke and darkness. The boy squeezed his eyes shut. He couldn’t even remember what his parents looked like... _I need to get out,_ he told himself, but froze when he rounded the corner and got to the door.

A long line of sleazy creatures snaked outside and at the door stood one of the security guards, checking people’s identification before waving them into the club. _Back door it is,_ Kai decided and ducked under the staircase. He took a shortcut through the storage rooms full of costumes and protection, and managed to get to the other side of the building in no time.

However there he was met with a nasty surprise.

Aros was standing in the open doorway, smoking and looking out at the rain. Kai pulled the hood down on his face more and then shapeshifted underneath. He turned into a peek; his eyes whited out completely, his hair grew into tentacles, his skin turned blue. In seconds he was unrecognisable and Aros barely even looked at him as Kai slipped out into the night.

The rain hit him, cold and gentle, pressing into his skin, the crevices of his clothes. The cold air rubbed against his cheeks and Kai exhaled; it felt good to be outside and no matter how polluted the air on Rum was, at least it was cleaner than the one in the _Thirteen Fragments._ At least here Kai could pretend to be someone else.

He pushed his hood back a little and started down the streets. They were all alleyways really, fading away into shadows, with mechanic shops and liquor bars scattered around. As always creatures milled around, glaring dangerously and carrying heavy weaponry. Nobody was talking, everybody was avoiding everyone else. Fugitives, criminals, slaves, all mingled together in the late evening. With a heavy stomach Kai passed by the _Mikhail Smudd –_ the child market, and tried to ignore the sobbing of kids within its dark walls. He was once that kid, sold into slavery, sold into prostitution.

But the air was different tonight; it smelled of smoke and sulphur, and the usually grey mist in the air had tints of colour in it. It looked almost beautiful. Kai stopped walking and craned his head...in the distance he thought he heard music. _It’s the first of Aodh,_ he remembered suddenly, _it’s the new year._ He shuddered and hugged himself. Another year at this cursed place.

Tears  welled up in his eyes. “Fuck,” Kai squeezed them shut and pressed his fingers over his eye-lids. Is this what his life would be like, forever? Always here, on this stardamned planet.

The boy slipped into a dark alleyway, and pressed his back to the wall, morphing back into himself. Unbelievable misery washed over him, killing any joy or hope in his heart. _I should just die,_ he thought, _this existence makes no sense._

Kaio sensed _his_ presence then, the big shadow thrown over the square of light spilling into the alley. The dancer’s shoulders slumped.

“How many times are we going to have this conversation?” Aro’s voice was harsh, cold, “You can’t just wander off, especially not here. You trying to get kidnapped again?”

“Why?” Kai whispered tiredly, banging his head back against the alley wall. The physical pain was welcome, “Why is it _always_ you?”

“Who do you want it to be?” Aros sighed.

“Anybody,” Kai said, sniffling, “Sahachi, Q, anyone.”

“Ah, yes,” Aro said, “Your precious Chi. Well, he’s dancing right now-“

“Shut up, what do you know,” Kaio growled. He wiped his nose on his sleeve, fighting his tears.

“Don’t tell me you’re crying,” there was disbelief in Aro’s voice. With a sudden burst of anger in his chest, Kai whirled around.

“I’m not!” he yelled. Aro seemed taken aback, out of his depth. His eyes were wide, “Why must you _always_ ruin everything?! I just wanted to be alone, just for a fucking minute, and you follow me like a stardamned lapdog!” shouting at Aros, seeing his scarred face, made Kai feel better, “I’m not running the fuck away, so leave me alone.”

Aros opened his mouth, then closed it again, then squared his shoulders, “Stop acting like a child.”

Kai wished he could punch him, rip his heart from his chest. The helplessness in his gut seemed to be eating him up from the inside, his hands itched to do _something._ Kai lifted his hand as if to hit Aros-

“That’s enough,” the man barked, gripping Kai’s wrist, fast as lightning. His thick fingers almost crushed Kai’s delicate wrist, and the Zalian slumped with relief as pain bloomed where Aro touched him. He always grabbed him too hard, unaware of his own monstrous strength. Kai liked it, in that moment he _needed_ it, craved it. If his pride let him he would’ve asked Aros to fuck him then, to shove him up against the wall and hurt him and give the burning fury inside him a way out. But the cold look in the man’s eyes reminded him that Aros was the enemy, one of Tuvian’s creatures meant to keep him inside stone walls.

Aros pulled him forward roughly, “We’re going back,” he said, voice commanding. Kai didn’t fight him, and allowed for the guard to half-drag him back into the main street. However then Aros abruptly stopped, “ _Shit,”_ he swore.

Kai peered around his broad shoulder and saw, in shock, that a large crowd of angry Ishait had gathered outside the _Fragments._ It was _much_ bigger than the last time Kai had seen them, and this time they didn’t look like a joke. Dressed in black and red, faces hidden beneath wide hoods they looked dangerous -  shouting, furious, armed with guns and jars of blazing colourful fire. Someone was preaching, someone else pressing up against the door that was firmly closed shut. The windows were dark, all lights extinguished. Passersby’s gave the mob interested looks but nobody stopped – there was nobody to call, nobody to stop this. Rum was lawless, and the Ishait could do what they wanted.

How long had Kai been in the alleyway?

“Motherfuckers,” he swore and started forward. Aro pulled him back by the wrist.

“Don’t,” he hissed, pulling Kai closer to him, “Shift.”

“What?!” Kai was trying to free himself from Aro’s grip, looking over his own shoulder at the shouting crowd, “We need to get in, we need to save them-“

“They’re fine, the _Fragments_ is armoured,” Aros interrupted, and forcefully turned Kai so the dancer was turning him, “We need to leave before they see you so _shift.”_

Kaio didn’t really know what was happening but Aro was calm and collected and so the Zalian did the only thing he could; he listened. In seconds he was an old, crooked Shif grandmother, leaning on Aros arm for support. The guard exhaled in relief as Kai glared up at him from the wrinkled, leathery folds of his face.

“Come on,” the Ishait breathed and then he was leading Kai through a maze of streets. Even though he had lived here for years, Kai rarely wandered further than a few alleys away from the _Thirteen._ Rum was terrifying and dangerous and it scared him to be far away from ‘home.’ As horrible as the club was at least Kai had friends within, family. At least that was familiar territory. Walking down the grey streets now brought back painful memories of the day he was kidnapped.

The New Year celebrations were making it worse. Kai flinched when someone suddenly set off sparkling fire to his left; after the bright explosions of curling purple and green faded the stench of sulphur attacked Kai’s nose while cackling laughter rang out through the street they were passing. Creatures wore masks, someone was having sex in the gutter. There was cackling and screaming and havoc and Kai’s head spun. He was overwhelmed, his fingers digging into Aro’s arm for support.

But nobody stopped them, moving aside from the scary, scarred, towering Ishait giant. Kai smiled under the hood of his cape; it felt good to be able to walk freely, without anybody’s curious or desiring gaze following him. He relaxed, leaning more against Aro who didn’t say anything, allowing the Shapeshifter to do as he pleased. The alleyways grew lighter as they exited the  most dangerous part of Rum. The planet was, at large, barren, or so Kaio had been told – he rarely saw more than Neon Street, where _The Thirteen Fragments_ were situated, and now he was pleasantly surprised. More shops appeared in the streets, lights spilling out onto the roads. The tall buildings, mismatched like patchwork, were tangled with strings that had hanging jars full of blazing lights strung from them, there was music blaring from several flats and creatures danced on the road as spaceships zoomed overhead. As Kai and Aro proceeded and trailed further from _The Fragments_ Kai saw more children, more families, he heard laughter. There were flower pots at windows, and despite the fog and darkness of Rum, it seemed almost...homely.

Kai had no idea that there were pars of Rum like this. He thought it was all just crime-littered, dirty and disgusting. He had missed a whole planet while it had been just around the corner.

“This way, grandma,” Aros said dryly, turning abruptly. Kaio craned his neck up and saw that they were standing in front of a towering structure made up of a mish-mash of metal, wood and squares of lights from people’s flats. Rickety, old black stairs snaked around the building and Aro had already climbed up several.

“Is this where you live?” Kai asked, blinking. His voice was a croak, like a frog’s.

“Yes, come on,” Aro said impatiently.  Kai didn’t have time to ask questions as Aros continued to climb, making it clear that he was going home whether Kai followed or not. The man hesitated only a moment, letting his gaze sweep over the street, before he followed Aro begrudgingly. He was a little curious about where Aros lived as well, though he’d never admit that out loud.

By the time they got to the top of the building Kai’s thigh muscles ached, and it had nothing to do with the fact he was currently an old lady. Aro had stopped in front of a black door and was now pressing his hand against it. Kai glanced over his shoulder. The air was colder up here, biting, but there was no wind. Below it looked as if Rum had been covered with a blanket made of fog, with hazy lights peeking between the grey.

Suddenly Kai remembered his dream.

The door creaked open and the boy turned around – Aros had to duck his head to get inside and the Shapeshifter scuttled in after him. By the time the door closed he was back to his normal form, aquamarine hair all tousled from the hood of his cloak.

Kaio looked around the flat, and honestly he didn’t know if he was surprised or not because he didn’t know what to expect – the thought that Aro could be someone other than _just_  a security guard at a nightclub never crossed his mind and seeing the place he lived was bizarre.

It’s not like it was anything special; the flat was dark, the overhead lamp that Aro turned on offering only a subtle, warm glow. There was a beaten up couch, a small table, dark curtains in the windows. The kitchen, which was separated from the rest of the flat only by a counter, looked like it had barely been used. A door led off to what Kai assumed was the bathroom while a ladder led to an alcove in the wall where a tiny space had been converted into a bed.

Aros had no photos of his family, no trinkets lying about. Surprisingly though, the flat was messy with clothes strewn across the floor and dead flowers in a vase that looked like they had been there longer than Aro. For some reason in Kai’s mind Aros was barely human, just this emotionless, muscle-machine. Finding out that he was actually a messy person made Kaio want to grin, because it was something only he knew...

“Well,” the Zalian collapsed on the couch and spread himself out, ignoring Aro’s glare, “This isn’t much.”

“What? Did you think I lived in a royal palace?”

“I don’t really spend much time thinking about where you live,” Kai said briskly. Aros rolled his eyes. He seemed to be doing that more often recently, and he showed his emotions more too. Nowadays Kaio could tell when the Ishait was angry and when he was annoyed, when a few months ago he wouldn’t have been able to. Was Aro’s mask slipping, or was Kai just paying more attention...?

“Want something to drink?” Aros asked. Kaio shook his head.

“I’m fine.”

“Right,” Aro replied, a little awkwardly. Kai watched as the guard shrugged off his armour and work clothes. Underneath he wore a simple black t-shirt. He picked a pair of sweatpants off the floor and tugged them on.

Kai  watched his every move. It was weird to see Aro wearing something so casual, and Kai couldn’t decide if he liked it, even if it did make Aros younger, and hotter-

Kaio blushed furiously and looked at his feet, hands clenching into fists as his mind wandered back to that night he had masturbated over the guard. Shame gripped his throat – it had been a moment of weakness, and Kai refused to acknowledge the fact that the ugly, monstrous beast of a man in front of him had been on his mind the past few weeks.

Suddenly Kai remembered why they were here.

“Shit,” he got to his feet abruptly, “We need to do something about the _Fragments-“_

“Woah,” Aros easily and roughly shoved Kai back down, “Relax, we just got in. Besides, it’s not safe for you to go back.”

“What if they hurt the dancers?!” Kaio demanded.

“You won’t be much help,” Aro gave him an up-and-down look that made Kai’s cheeks burn.

“Mr T will know I’m gone.”

“I got a message from him a few minutes ago; the club’s on lockdown so nobody’s working anyway.”

“Well that’s worse! They’ll definitely notice I’m gone-“

Aros glared at him, “If Tuvian were to notice your absence he would’ve done it by now so you returning now is pointless.”

“Fine” Kai huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. A tense silence settled over the two of them as Aros turned to the kitchen and started bustling about. Kai didn’t know what to say. This was weird, to say the least. “I don’t want to stay here,” the boy blurted.

“Fine,” Aro snapped, clearly irritated, throwing something into his sink and turning to look back at Kai, eyes shooting lightning, “At least change though, and eat something, and then I’ll try and sneak you back inside,” his expression softened. Kai flinched, unused to gentleness on the guard’s face, “Or you can sleep here, just for a bit. The bed’s upstairs, it’s soft...”

Kai laughed, a little hysterical. _What’s going on?_ His heart pounded. Why was Aro looking at him like _that._ Terrified of the twisted feelings inside him Kai blurted the first thing that came to mind, “Is that your way of getting me to sleep with you? Can’t save enough money to fuck me, can you?”

Aros’ whole demeanour changed. The gentle look slipped from his eyes and just like that he was back to the stoic, cold security guard that Kai knew all too well. His expression was unreadable.

“I’m done,” Aros said coldly, “I’m done trying to be kind to a stupid whore like you.”

Then he grabbed Kai by the arm and shoved him back towards the door, “If you’re so eager to get back to your precious club and getting fucked then be my guest.”

Panic curled in Kai’s throat, killing the words that were there. He didn’t want this, he didn’t want to go back. He wanted to stay in this shabby, homely flat, with Aros guarding and protecting him. He wanted a shower, to eat, to rest. He wanted Aro to be kind again, gentle. To touch him with love, the way nobody ever did. But he had fucked it up, as always.

“I...,” his voice faltered and he just stared at Aros.

“ _Fuck,”_ the guard snapped, turning his back to the dancer and running his hand down his face, “Why are you like this?” his voice was laced with paid but Kai couldn’t see his face, “Why do you always have to try and fight me? I have no hidden agenda, Kaio.”

Kai opened his mouth, then closed it again, carefully picking his words, “I...I’m just angry. You’re easy to be angry with.”

“You hate it don’t you?” Aro asked dully, “Working at the _Fragments._ So why don’t you just leave?”

Kai flinched. _Does he think I want this?_ Kai felt sick, _does he think I’m a slut...no, of course he thinks that. But does he think I choose..._ the world tilted and for a second Kaio felt unstable before gathering himself, “You think it’s that easy?” he asked quietly, “I’m not like you. I’m not strong, or big, all I ever am is _pretty._ I can shapeshift to look at you but I can’t have your strength, I’m too weak-“

“Excuses. Excuses. If you actually wanted to leave you would have. You just don’t have anywhere to go,” Aro interrupted coldly, “That’s why you’re still here, because you’ve got your friends, and your precious Chi and out there you have nobody.”

His words hurt, as if Kai’s heart was getting sliced up by a burning hot knife. He didn’t understand – one moment Aros was being so, so kind and the next he was cruel and...tears gathered in Kai’s eyes. _Fuck._

“Screw you, you ugly prick!” he yelled, voice trembling, and then he spilled out of Aros’ flat, his legs automatically taking him through the maze of the streets, back towards his prison, back towards the only home he would ever have.

Aros didn’t follow.

**2 nd Aodh 1180 (One day later)**

**Somewhere in Space.**

_I should just go,_ Reid thought, eyes intently focused on the dark shape of the _Pied Piper,_ frozen. He hoped that any moment the ship would come back to life and Hamelin would fly away happily...but that didn’t happen. It hadn’t happened the last four days. _I’m wasting time..._

If Reid knew where to go next he would’ve left. Or at least that’s what he told himself. But all the backstairs channels were quiet, all his connections had no leads. For the first time in his career, Reid was at a dead end, a standstill. And his employer was a very dangerous, very powerful woman. If Reid didn’t think of something soon he could be in deep, deep shit.

The man popped another piece of chocolate on his mouth, eyes not moving from his enemy’s ship. That Alpha man had flown away days ago but Reid was still anxious; Elin’s intercom was down and Reid had no way of knowing if he was okay, or even still alive.

“Fuck’s sake, Hamelin,” he grumbled to himself, “Why do you have to be difficult?”

In response his intercom crackled. Reid threw the chocolate on the floor and grasped the transmitter.

“Hello?” he asked, eager and desperate and stupid.

 _“Hey Reid,”_ the voice that came through the intercom was, regrettably, not Hamelin’s. Reid slumped in his seat.

“Oh. Hey Juva.”

Juva was one of his connections, and a drug smuggler. Reid didn’t know her real name, or where she was from, or what she looked like, but he gave her the information she needed and she did the same.

 _“I’ve got some news for you,”_ Juva sounded excited, _“I’m sure they’ll make you happy.”_

“Shoot,” Reid said.

_“So, there been rumours of Tallin on Golbahar.”_

“Golbahar?” Reid frowned. _What is he doing with the Vlassain?_ His guess would have been to go to Neukoliin or Beremvord since he was partially a Harsonia, or even Earth 6.2...

_“Yes, one of our sources says a mysterious Harsonia-Varsen hybrid had appeared there a few weeks ago with no explanation. The appearance doesn’t match Tallin though, because the Hybrid is a girl.”_

“Shit,” Reid swore. He had been so preoccupied with Hamelin that he didn’t even think about the fact that Tallin might be cross-dressing, “Okay, that’s great information, thanks.”

“ _That’s not all of it,”_ Juva interrupted, “ _I’ve also got a bounty in front of me. A bounty from Fayaxiamen.”_

Reid’s blood chilled, “A-A bounty?”

“ _Don’t worry,”_ Juva laughed, “ _it’s not for you but for that little shit you hate, Hamelin.”_

Reid’s heart dropped, “Hamelin,” he breathed, eyes flittering to the man’s dead ship.

“ _Great news right? You’ll really be the best in the galaxy now.”_

“Yeah,” Reid said weakly, but he didn’t feel happy. In fact, he felt sick.

“ _Well if ya wanna help a girl out, do you know where he is?”_

“No,” Reid said quickly, “Look, Juva, I have to go. Thank you for the information.”

_“No problem.”_

She clicked off the intercom.

“Fuck,” Reid swore.

He had to go to Golbahar, and quickly, before Rozene decided to put a bounty on him too...but Elin was in trouble; there were probably hundreds of hunters on the lookout for him now. Reid bit his thumb in thought; what was he supposed to do? If he just abandoned Hamelin here with no power then surely he’d get surrounded and killed-

Reid jerked to his feet. He’d warn Hamelin first; Golbahar could wait.

***

Reid banged on the door again but there continued to be no response. He gritted his teeth. Maybe Hamelin really _was_ dead? Reid had been at the inner door of _Piper_ for ten minutes now, waiting impatiently for Elin to let him in. He was running out of air and if Elin didn’t open soon he’d have to go back to _The Bub._ He knocked again – no reply.

“Screw this,” the man gritted out, and he was about to turn around and forget all about Hamelin – who he shouldn’t have been concerned about in the first place – when there was a soft hiss and the outer door opened. “Finally!” Reid shouted, hoping the Charasean could hear him.

Huffing with annoyance, Reid stepped into the entryway and the outer door shut behind him. Immediately the man pulled off his helmet, just as the inner door opened.

“Why are you offline?!” Reid demanded, walking into the cabin and pulling off his space-suit, tossing it about carelessly, “We have some real problems, we-,” he choked on air because his eyes landed on Hamelin. “What the _fuck?”_ he whispered.

The man was slumped against the wall, hand weakly pushing a button that got the inner door to slide shut. But he didn’t look like himself, and it completely threw Reid off. His hair was sticking to his face, dark fringe sweeping over his pale forehead. Usually Hamelin’s hair was straight and neat, and now it was damp and wavy and messy. His white skin was flushed, especially his cheeks, which were dusted pink. His lips were parted and glimmering with wetness, letting out shaky little breaths. It was his eyes that really threw Reid off though, so dark they were black, eyelids drooping. There was no arrogance or confidence in Hamelin’s gaze, in fact he was looking at Reid with desperation and...hunger? He was dressed in a soft-looking t-shirt and Reid had no idea if he had anything underneath it because it fell down to his mid-thighs, which were trembling, just like his shoulders.

“What’s going on?” Reid breathed, heart pounding furiously.

“I’m in heat,” Hamelin whispered. His voice was gentle, a little hoarse, and _really_ sexy.

 _What the hell am I thinking?!_ Reid took a step back, shocked at his own thoughts, and Hamelin didn’t move from his position though he didn’t look away from Reid either. _He’s in heat..._ Reid’s brain worked to understand what he was being told. Hamelin was a Charasean and although he had never told Reid what kind, the assassin had just assumed that Hamelin was a Beta, or even an Alpha, but an Omega...

Reid was sassy, and sarcastic, and confident, and brave. As stereotypical as Reid’s beliefs were, he always imagined Omegas to be shy and meek and submissive. Seeing Hamelin like this now, looking all _soft,_ and pretty, and- _ugh,_ was making Reid’s heart go crazy.

“D-Don’t you,” Reid swallowed, trying to get his brain cells to work while his eyes shamelessly looked over every inch of Hamelin’s body, “Don’t you h-have s-suppressants or an Alpha o-or something...”

“Ran out,” Hamelin murmured, dark eyes sliding over Reid’s body. He wasn’t acting crazy, wasn’t panting and begging; he was leaning against the wall as if he had no strength in his body, and was looking at Reid hazily, seductively. And Reid didn’t know what to do, “What do you want?”

“I...uh...,” Reid’s eyes lingered on Hamelin’s pale thighs, his mind going blank, “Huh?”

“Why are you on my ship?” Hamelin specified, pushing himself off the wall with some difficulty. When he sauntered over slowly Reid felt heat drip into his gut but he tried to ignore it, desperate to keep his composure in front of his enemy. _Rozene. The job._ He reminded himself.

“I, um,” he pointedly looked at the wall, refusing to look at Hamelin again, “I got a message from a friend, Rozene’s impatient s-she...,” his voice faltered because Hamelin was close, _too_ close, the smell wafting off him was one of sweetness and sex, “she put out a bounty for your head...”

“Mhmmm,” Hamelin practically purred, and suddenly his arms were sliding around Reid’s shoulders. His grip was weak, his skin overheated, and Reid flinched from his touch.

“What are you doing?!” he demanded, heart going wild in his chest.

“What do you think?” Hamelin asked quietly. Up close he was even more mesmerizing, and Reid didn’t have it in him to push him away. The Omega leaned up, brushed his nose against Reid’s in an invitation, “I’m in heat,” he whispered as if Reid didn’t already know that, “my body craves an Alpha. You’re an Alpha, Reid.”

“I-I’m a Shif,” the assassin protested weakly, eyes sliding down to Hamelin’s mouth – the man’s pink tongue came out to lick at his bottom lip.

“Yes, but you’re still a dominant man,” Hamelin whispered, “and you should leave before...,” he trailed off, but his eyes remained on Reid’s face, dark and sultry and challenging.

“What if I don’t want to go?” Reid replied. For a second Hamelin looked uncertain, scared, but that look passed quickly and before Reid knew what was happening Hamelin’s arms had tightened around his neck and the Omega was kissing him. It was hot and passionate, and Hamelin’s lips were slick with spit and pliant but demanding, moving roughly against Reid’s.

He tasted like caramel, and he pressed his hips flush against Reid’s. The Shif’s mind blanked and for a second all he could focus on was Elin, pressing into him, the firmness of his body, the little huffed, hot breaths he was letting out. _Don’t,_ Reid’s mind warned, but the man didn’t listen. In that moment he wanted to kiss Hamelin, the years of pent up frustrations between them crashing over him. So for once he just did what he wanted.

He plunged his tongue into Hamelin’s mouth and the Omega moaned, causing a spark of fire to run down Reid’s spine. It was as if the response to the kiss was the last thing keeping Hamelin up because he slumped in Reid’s arms, clinging onto him but feeling like a pool of melted chocolate. He was trusting Reid, being vulnerable even though Reid had threatened his life multiple times. It made Reid simultaneously preen with the thought that Hamelin felt this comfortable around him, and feel an insistent urge to protect this man in his arms.

Reid licked around inside Hamelin’s mouth and the Omega began to tremble in his arms like a leaf in the wind.

“You okay?” Reid whispered, pulling away only an inch.

“No,” Hamelin whispered, more breathy than before, “I need you to fuck me.”

“Are you crazy?!” Reid spluttered even as his insides twisted up with lust just from hearing Hamelin say that, “We hate each other and-“

Hamelin kissed him again, so roughly that Reid stumbled back, hitting the wall behind him. The Omega didn’t seem to care, slotting his lithe body against Reid’s and licking at his mouth desperately. And this time it was Reid’s turn to melt; it was like Hamelin’s smell and the feel of his body was making it impossible for the assassin to push him away. Reid’s hands slid over Elin’s back before resting on his hips. But Elin didn’t want that and, without breaking the kiss, he grasped Reid’s hands in his own and pushed them lower, so they were resting on his ass. Before Reid even knew what he was doing his hands were squeezing, the flesh soft and malleable and hot in his hands. Hamelin wasn’t wearing any underwear underneath the t-shirt.

“ _Fuck,”_ Reid swore, not really sure what he was swearing at. Hamelin pulled away, eyes droopy and full of lust.

“Come _on_ Reid,” he whispered.

Reid was hard. It was impossible for him to even think about leaving. Abandoning his pride somewhere in the cabin he allowed the Omega to grasp his hand and pull him towards the bed that took up the back part of the room. Elin’s hand was burning hot and trembling in Reid’s grip.

 _I wonder if he’s scared,_ Reid thought as Hamelin confidently climbed onto his bed, which was piled high with covers and pillows, though they were all strewn around messily. The Shif wondered how long Hamelin had been alone on this bed, horny and desperate. And alone.

“Just sit down and relax,” Hamelin said, pushing Reid against the headboard. The Shif sat there, confused for a moment. Elin seemed pretty in control despite his red face and trembling shoulders, as if he knew exactly what he wanted. Reid knew that having sex with an Omega during heat was now classed as rape unless the Omega gave consent-

“Hey,” Reid blurted, “Are you okay with this?” he asked. Hamelin looked at him, eyes a little unfocused, “as in, are you okay with it being...me?”

“Idiot,” Hamelin huffed and then climbed into Reid’s lap, straddling him with his naked thighs on either side of the man’s legs. The Shif swallowed and his cock twitched with interest. Elin seemed pretty sure of what he wanted. He threw his arms around Reid’s shoulders and connected their mouths again. It was scary how good it felt to kiss the Charasean, especially since Reid was supposed to hate him. And yet he found his hands sliding underneath Elin’s shirt, brushing over his back as Hamelin’s slim fingers danced through the short hair at the nape of the Shif’s neck.

Hamelin was getting more flustered, his breathing growing heavy and a little helpless. He started to rock against Reid and the blond decided it was probably a good idea to let the Omega breathe, so he traced kisses from the corner of his mouth and down his neck, pulling the man closer. When the assassin looked down he saw that the Omegas cock was peeking out from underneath his t-shirt, pale like the rest of him but flushed pink and glimmering with wetness. Without even thinking Reid reached down and wrapped his fingers around it; because it was pretty, and inviting, and because he kind of wanted to make Elin feel really, really good.

“ _Reid,”_ the Omega gasped, jerking forward, fingers digging into Reid’s shoulders. The Shif just kissed his neck harder, sucking a hickey underneath his chin, in a place that everybody would be able to see. He gave Elin’s cock a slow stroke, then another, and then man whined prettily in his arms.

“Stop,” Hamelin shoved Reid’s hand away and the blond blinked up at him in confusion that melted away when Reid saw the Omega’s flushed, aroused expression. He couldn’t get used to it, “It’s too hot,” the dark-haired man explained in a huff, before pulling his t-shirt over his head and tossing it aside.

He was shameless, sitting in Reid’s lap, legs spread, tips of shoulders flushed the same colour as his dick, which stood erect from his body. Reid had never seen Elin naked, never seen the pale, elegant planes of his body. Hamelin was gorgeous and he knew it, selfishly grabbing Reid’s hands and placing them on his body. He pressed one to his chest and Reid, mesmerized, splayed his fingers over the Omega’s heart. He felt it pounding furiously and marvelled at the contrast between his hand and Elin’s white skin.

The Omega brought Reid’s other hand up to his face and pressed it to his cheek, nuzzling it like a kitten. He closed his eyes, eyelashes dark against his cheeks, and let out a little happy sigh and Reid couldn’t stop _staring._ The other assassin just looked so stardamn content, and relaxed, and _perfect._

“Hamelin-,” Reid started, because his mind was going fuzzy and he was starting to forget what they were; enemies.

The Omega’s pink tongue peeked from his mouth and he licked Reid’s palm. The blond shuddered and felt his stomach knot up. He had never been turned on by someone as he was by Elin in that moment.

“Come here,” he forgot all his protests and dragged the Charasean closer, burying his face in his pale shoulder, kissing and biting at it playfully.

“Reid,” Hamelin’s voice sounded serious as his fingers trembled, carding themselves through the blond’s hair, “This is o-only going to get worse. I might lose control.”

“It’s okay,” Reid squeezed him, “I’ve got you.”

He didn’t know why he said it, it just came out, and Hamelin tensed in his arms for a second, before completely melting. He gripped Reid’s face in his hands and crashed their mouths together in a painfully good, rough kiss.

“You can just shove it i-inside me,” he panted, grinding down on Reid’s thigh shamelessly, “You don’t need to do anything e-else-“

“No, don’t be stupid,” Reid was finding it hard to concentrate, “I want-“

He didn’t get to finish because Hamelin started to undo his belt and in seconds he had pulled Reid’s cock out. He smiled a little when he saw it, shoulders slumping in relief.

“What?” Reid breathed – _is he going to make fun of me?_ Hamelin’s flushed cheeks seemed to darken.

“You’re hard,” he whispered. Reid snorted;

“Well _yeah,_ you’re naked in my lap, what am I supposed to be?”

Hamelin shook his head and then lifted himself up. Reid frowned, confused when Hamelin pushed his chest into his face, but before he could ask Elin wrapped his hand around the base of his cock and, with no warning, slid himself down onto it.

“Ohmy- _fuck,”_ Reid choked on air as he was suddenly enveloped in hot, tight, soaking wet heat. His cock throbbed, “Fuck,” he gasped again as his body was assaulted by a wave of pleasure. His hands found Elin’s hips automatically, fingers digging into them.

Elin just took shallow, helpless breaths. He curled his arms around Reid’s shoulders and buried his face there so the blond couldn’t see his face. He didn’t move for a minute, trembling in Reid’s arms and the blond was too overwhelmed to think about anything other than trying not come right there and then.

It was only after a while that he came back to his sense, which is when he realised Elin was breathing harshly and shaking.

“Elin?” Reid asked, voice hoarse and borderline moan-y, “Are you o-okay?”

“’m fine,” Hamelin mumbled. Reid couldn’t see his face, but he pulled the man closer and reached down to where their bodies were connected. His hand came away wet. Reid looked down at it and frowned. _Omegas produce slick,_ he remembered the random piece of information. So Hamelin was wet, like a girl.

But there were dark specks among the clear wetness that coated Reid’s hand.

“Elin,” the Shif panicked, “Elin, shit, look at me.”

“I’m fine,” Hamelin replied breathlessly, pulling away a little. He didn’t look so confident anymore. His hair was tumbling into his eyes, his lips were swollen. He was so beautiful it hurt.

“You’re bleeding,” Reid managed.

Hamelin smiled, a little sheepish, “Sorry,” he whispered, eyes darting to the side, “I just wanted you inside me really badly.”

Reid’s heart clenched and his cock twitched inside the other man, “Are you a virgin?”

Hamelin bit his lip, then nodded shyly. _Never thought he’d be like this,_ Reid’s heart pounded. He thought Hamelin, with all his sexiness and confidence, had been at it like a rabbit. “You need to get off,” Reid said, as gently as he could.

“Reid I’m fine,” the Omega protested, “It’s just a little blood.”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Hamelin,” Reid said firmly, pretending like he hadn’t punched and threatened and fought Elin all these years. This was a different kind of hurt. Hamelin’s jaw clenched and then he grabbed Reid’s hand. He pressed it to his stomach.

“I said I’m fine,” he said hotly. Reid’s fingers were wet. He looked down and saw that there was a string of white connecting Elin’s still hard cock to his stomach.

“You came?!” Reid demanded, a little awed, a lot aroused.

“Yes,” Hamelin gripped the Shif’s face in his hands again, “So just fuck me, okay? My body is literally made for this.”

Reid didn’t like Hamelin objectifying himself but he also knew that there was no way in hell he could leave now. He needed more of Elin, to drink up his expressions, to remember him like this.

“Okay,” Reid breathed, “How do you want to do this?”

Hamelin’s response was to place his hands on Reid’s shoulders and lift himself up, before sliding back down on Reid’s cock. The Shif gasped and a wave of slick gushed down Elin’s thighs.

“ _Fuck,”_ he moaned, squeezing his eyes shut, “F-Fuck, it f-feels...,” he didn’t finish, repeating the movement again. Reid’s head fell back against the headboard of Elin’s bed and he watched, breathless, as the Omega slowly started to bounce in his lap. It was true, it was like he was made for it. His thighs trembled and little moans spilled from his mouth, but Hamelin just kept going, as if he needed it. He took Reid’s cock inside of himself over and over.

For a while Reid couldn’t do anything but watch, drinking in the enticing display in front of him. Hamelin was perfect and naked in his lap and Reid hadn’t realised how badly he had wanted that until he happened. His mind was cloudy, cock spasming inside the Omega every time Elin took him inside him. His body was so hot, gripping Reid in blinding pleasure.

“ _Nghhh,”_ Elin moaned, but he was still trying to control himself. Reid just wanted him to let go, “F-Fuck...Reid, I think I’m gonna come soon.”

“Yeah,” Reid snapped back to life then, wrapping his arms around Elin’s waist and pulling him closer, “yeah, me too.” He kissed Hamelin on the mouth and the man moaned, gripping the blond with his arms and thighs. His kisses were messier and wetter and for a second the only noise in the room was the squelching sound of Reid’s cock plunging into Hamelin’s wet hole.

Then the man sped up, and his bounces got clumsier. Reid gathered two greedy handfuls of the Omega’s ass into his hands and lifted him up as their pace quickened. His stomach was all in knots, fire shooting through his body every second and he knew that he was going to explode soon. _I don’t want it to end,_ he thought desperately and pulled Hamelin even closer.

“You n-need to get off,” he panted, “I-I’m gonna come.”

“No,” Elin’s arms tightened against Reid’s shoulders, “C-Come inside me. P-Please come inside me.”

“ _Fuck.”_

The Omega whined against Reid and shuddered. His come hit Reid’s t-shirt and made it stick to his body but the Shif didn’t care because as he orgasmed, Elin’s asshole clenched mercilessly around his erection, and he was swallowed up by pleasure. He filled Hamelin up with his come, his vision whiting out as he groaned and clutched the boy close.

It was a few minutes before they both came to. Reid held Elin’s warm, sticky body against him and tried to get his breath back as the Omega slumped against him.

“You okay?” Reid finally managed to grunt out. Hamelin dragged himself away from him a little. Strings of come connected their stomachs, and Elin looked more of a mess than before, eyes half-closed.

“Yeah,” he whispered, “Having you inside me feels amazing.”

“ _Stars,”_ Reid swore, “You need to s-stop saying shameless things like that.”

Hamelin smirked and with some difficulty climbed off Reid. The blond felt cold and alone the moment Elin was gone, his soft cock flopping against his stomach. Hamelin wobbled on his feet, then sat down on the edge of the bed, shaking.

He gave Reid an intense look that made the blond’s cock twitch back to life a little.

“I’m still hard,” Elin said, like an invitation, “I will be until tomorrow. This is only the fourth day of my heat and-,” he suddenly cried out in pain and curled in on himself, arms wrapping around his middle.

“Hamelin!” Reid exclaimed and jerked to his knees next to the man, hands hovered over him, unsure of where to touch him. Reid was scared of hurting him even more, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just the heat,” Elin whispered and one of his hands shot out, curling into Reid’s shirt, “N-Now you’ve fucked me it hurts to be away from you,” he gave Reid a pained, lopsided grin, “Sorry. I should have said that before.”

“Idiot,” Reid hauled him closer and shoved him down on his back on the bed. Hamelin looked up at him, wide eyed and flushed, hair like a dark halo around his head, “I’m not going anywhere,” Reid said firmly, “I’ll stay with you until morning.”

Hamelin relaxed and smiled, opening his arms. Reid settled between them, pushing Hamelin’s legs apart. The Omega let him between them and then hugged him close. They kissed. Reid brushed Hamelin’s hair out of his sweaty forehead.

“I just need a minute,” he said, “before I can get hard again.”

Hamelin bit his lip. He was looking more dazed and flushed by the minute.

“Can I suck you off then?” he asked. Reid jerked.

“Fuck,” he pressed a hand over his eyes, “How can you ask something like that so casually?”

Hamelin licked up his neck and then nuzzled his shoulder before flopping back down on the bed, pouting, “It’s fine if it’s you. It’ll get you in the mood and help me out too.”

“How?” Reid raised an eyebrow.

Hamelin flushed, “None of your business.”

He pushed at Reid’s shoulder and the blond climbed off, laying on his back. Hamelin swung a leg over him so he was straddling him again. For a second he just looked at Reid, then he trailed a hand down his front.

“Take your shirt off,” he said huskily.

Reid sat up and eagerly pulled the sticking t-shirt off, throwing it like Elin had somewhere into the dimness of the cabin. It was dark and the starboard was black, the power still out. Reid could see all the stars outside.

Hamelin impatiently tugged on Reid’s trousers, “Those too.”

The blond wiggled his way out of them while still somehow keeping his lover close and Elin tossed them aside before dragging Reid’s underwear off. The blond was a confident person, especially when it came to his body – he worked out, which he found helped with his job. But having Hamelin undress him like that, so hurriedly and carelessly, made him feel weird.

Elin looked a little disappointed that Reid’s cock was soft.

“I just came!” the blond protested weakly, and then looked at the Omega’s dick. It was hard between his legs.

Elin didn’t reply, just crawled down Reid’s body, pressing kisses to his chest and muscled abdomen and the blond’s brain quickly told him what was happening. He wanted to protest, because Hamelin was the one who needed to be taken care of, but the prospect of having the assassin’s sinful, swollen mouth around him was-

“ _Ah,”_ Reid gasped, eyes flying wide when he felt Elin’s lips wrap around his shaft. Blood rushed downwards and Reid struggled up onto his elbows to look at Hamelin. The Omega was settled between his legs, eyes downcast, mouth open, swallowing Reid halfway, “S-Shit,” the Shif swore and watched as Hamelin withdrew before sucking him back down, this time taking more of Reid’s cock into his mouth. He flinched when he felt it fill up as Reid got hard again, and the blond couldn’t help but wonder – _hope –_ that this was the first blowjob that Hamelin had ever given, though judging by the way he slurped his cock down greedily Reid doubted it.

The thought of Elin with someone else made him mad.

The Omega let Reid’s half-hard dick out of his mouth with a wet sound. A line of spit connected Reid’s tip with Hamelin’s red, moist lips and there was something incredibly obscene about the sight, that made Reid get harder.

“You’re the devil,” he said. Elin smiled at him and wiped his chin before rushing back down. He licked a strip up Reid’s cock and the blond shivered, slumping down on the bed, “ _Fuck.”_

Tremors of pleasure raced up his spine and his hand found Hamelin’s hair, sliding into the soft, damp locks. Reid watched his cock grow harder and Elin chased it with his mouth, sucking and licking. Then the man pressed his nose into the patch of hair at Reid’s crotch and inhaled before rubbing the blond’s cock against his cheek, eyes closed, leaving a smear of precum there. Reid’s mouth was dry – it was as if Hamelin was trying to get Reid’s scent all over himself, and it was fucking hot.

Elin licked the tip of Reid’s dick with his tongue, and then his lips stretched around it once more and he took it back into the wonderfully wet heat of his mouth, impatiently pushing his dark hair out of his face. Reid was trying to stay in control but it was hard. He let his head fall back against the pillows and closed his eyes but he didn’t like the darkness. No, he wanted to look at Hamelin and commit the sight of him sucking Reid’s cock to memory.

That was a mistake, however, because when Reid looked down he saw that Hamelin was already looking at him, dark eyes blown and focused on Reid’s face, brows furrowed. The tips of his pointed ears were red, and in that moment everything came crashing onto Reid – he had just fucked Hamelin, his enemy, and now the man – who was an _Omega –_ was sucking his dick.

“Stop,” Reid gasped, insides clenching, “I’m gonna come.”

Hamelin pulled his mouth off and Reid was already reaching for him. He hauled the Omega up and flipped them over, so Elin was pushed down onto the bed again with the blond hovering over him. Reid kissed him messily, and Hamelin arched up into his touch.

“C’mon,” he whimpered, arms curling around Reid’s shoulders, and the blond knew exactly what he needed. He pushed Hamelin’s legs apart and threw them over his shoulders and Hamelin just _looked_ at him. He didn’t look the way he had when Reid first came here; now he was panting and vulnerable and helpless.

Reid eagerly pushed his cock back inside the man. Hamelin cried out, eyes squeezing shut, and his hard cock trembled against his stomach. Meanwhile Reid was having a little trouble focusing because being enveloped by Elin’s body again was intense, and a lot. He felt fucking amazing.

“I’m not gonna last,” Reid warned, groaning against Hamelin’s pale neck and sucking another hickey into it as he thrust shallowly into the boy beneath him, desperate to keep the orgasm back just a few more minutes.

“It’s fine,” Elin panted, then moaned, “come inside me again.”

So Reid did, shaking violently as he exploded into the Omega once more. Elin whimpered sweetly, toes curling and mouth falling open but he didn’t come and Reid was spent again and _shit._ He wanted to take care of this man so badly but Hamelin was making him crazy.

Reid slipped out of him and before Hamelin could even say anything he shoved two fingers inside the man. Hamelin’s eyes flew open and he choked on a gasp. Reid curled an arm around his head and looked down at him hungrily.

“Reid, I-“

“Shhh,” Reid kissed him quickly, twisting his fingers inside the man and earning himself another intoxicating moan, “Let me take care of you.”

He pushed a third finger into Elin which was easy since not only was he stretched from Reid’s dick but he was also wet from his slick as well as Reid’s come which was spilling  out of his hole and pooling on the bed. Reid stretched his fingers inside Hamelin and then pushed the come back into him.

“Fuck,” Hamelin swore breathily, hands twisting in the covers below him. A layer of sweat covered his body and he couldn’t seem to stay quiet as a litany of moans poured from his mouth. When Reid pushed his fingers in at a specific angle Hamelin cried out and then fell onto his side, turning away from Reid and shaking uncontrollably. _Found it,_ Reid thought, a little smug and thrust his fingers in the same place again. “ _Reid!”_ Elin gasped, “F-Fuck that’s-“

Reid rolled him back onto his back and kissed him messily as his movements sped up suddenly and he thrust his fingers into Hamelin violently, filling the room with wet, obscene sounds.

“ _Oh,”_ Hamelin’s back arched again and it was honestly Reid’s favourite thing, “Oh _shit,_ fuck, fuck _fuck_...”

Seeing Hamelin slowly losing it was driving Reid crazy. Elin came again, with no warning, and then slumped against the bed. His eyes were glassy as if he was about to cry and Reid pulled his fingers out.

“You okay?” he asked, wiping his hand on the dirty sheets. Elin nodded weakly and closed his eyes, swallowing. Reid noticed the stack of water bottles next to the bed and he picked a full one up, suddenly overcome with the need to properly take care of Hamelin.

“Here, sit up,” he slid an arm under the man’s back and pulled him up before pressing the opened bottle to his lips. Hamelin drank eagerly, leaning into Reid’s side. His cock was still hard but he seemed to have calmed down a little. _Is his heat ending?_ Reid thought with a pang. He didn’t want it to. Holding Elin against his chest and watching as he drank was making him...happy.

The blond pushed back Hamelin’s hair and kissed his forehead and Elin curled up against him and finished the bottle.

“I feel gross,” he said hoarsely.

“You wanna shower?” Reid asked softly. Elin nodded.

Reid stood up and pulled Hamelin up with him. The man was covered in sweat, come and slick and honestly Reid decided he could do with a shower too. Until his eyes landed on the stash of time jars by the star-board. He swallowed.

“Go on in,” he murmured, “I’ll change the sheets.”

Hamelin nodded and wobbled to the bathroom, the door opening for him automatically. Reid didn’t lie, he really did change the sheets, putting the soiled ones in a heap by the exit. But his eyes kept lingering on the time jars. Honestly he didn’t want Elin’s heat to end, because then they’d have to answer questions as to _why_ they even did this in the first place. Reid just wanted to hold him a little longer.

So he picked up a jar and he swallowed hard, before cracking it open just a tiny bit. Smoke curled in the air and Reid immediately closed the jar again, heart pounding. Outside everything was still and quiet.

“Shit,” Reid swore and put the jar back, running to the bathroom.

***

 _I want it to always be him,_ Hamelin thought, not for the first time that night. Reid was sitting in the bath-tub opposite him, water up to his ribs. His blond hair was damp, falling into his eyes and making him look younger, and his eyes were softer than Elin had ever seen them. And they were looking at him.

The pangs of heat kept going through Hamelin but it wasn’t as bad as it usually was simply because Reid was there. Elin’s heat-clouded mind was too unfocused to even comprehend what had happened, that Elin had willingly given himself up to the man he was supposed to hate. He focused on the moment instead, on sitting in the water than felt cold against his feverish skin, on the feeling of Reid’s fingers in his hair as he shampooed it, of the content deep in his chest that came from knowing that Reid was taking care of him. _Like an Alpha,_ Elin thought, _Like I’m his mate._ The thought, as absurd as it was, made him so, so happy.

His cock poked through the water and suddenly Reid’s soapy hands were sliding from Hamelin’s hair and cradling his cheeks. The blond leaned forward and kissed Elin’s wet mouth, “You wanna go again?” he asked gently. Elin’s stomach trembled. _Yes, yes, yes,_ he thought. But he couldn’t speak so he just nodded.  Reid smiled, kind and gentle and unlike the assassin Hamelin knew him for, and rinsed the Omega’s hair before carefully tugging him into his lap. He pressed his chest against Hamelin’s back and kissed his shoulder.

“I’m not gonna put it in,” he murmured and Elin fought a whimper of disappointment, “You might want it but I don’t want to hurt you, so just spread your thighs for me, okay?”

Hamelin did as he was told. In that moment he would’ve done anything Reid wanted. The blond slipped his cock between Elin’s white thighs, so that it pressed up against the Omega’s erection. Then he snaked his arms underneath Elin’s and wrapped one hand around both their members.

“ _Nghhhh,”_ Elin squeezed his eyes shut at the sensation as Reid started stroking. The water added friction and Reid’s palm was rough and calloused, his throbbing erection adding an extra feeling to the whole thing, sliding and slipping against Hamelin’s. The Omega grinded down, unable to help himself, panting and moaning. Reid’s free hand grabbed his chin and half turned his head so they could kiss clumsily.

“Is this enough?” Reid asked, his stubble catching on Elin’s chin.

“Y-Yeah,” Hamelin nodded feverishly, his wet lips moving against Reid’s with every word, “C-Can you...can you call me something sweet?”

“What?” Reid frowned. Elin wanted to cry.

“You’re always so cold to me, j-just...”

Reid kissed him hard, “I’m sorry, baby,” he cooed, stroking Hamelin faster and causing him to cry out and throw his head back against Reid’s naked shoulder, “I’m sorry for being cold, and cruel, and for hurting you before.” Reid kissed his neck and shoulder, his hot breath brushing against Elin’s wet neck and making him shiver, “You’re so lovely, Elin, so pretty.”

It was exactly what Hamelin’s inner Omega needed to hear. He only cared about Reid, he wanted to be loved by him, to be perfect for him. He _craved_ it and his heart ached from hearing Reid’s praises. His hips stuttered in the water and Reid continued to rub their cocks together under it, until the fire that had been burning in Elin’s stomach for four days had turned pleasant and spread through his whole body.

They both came in the water with Reid biting down on Elin’s shoulder. _Yes,_ the Omega keened, _I want him to mark me._

He stood up from the bath first and clumsily got out. His bones felt like they were made of goo, and he could barely think straight. He was still hard but the ache was gone...for now. He knew that it’d return within the next hour.

When Elin towelled himself off Reid watched him from the water.

“You coming?” the dark-haired assassin smiled sleepily at the Shif.

“Yeah, let me just let the water out.”

Hamelin padded back into the main cabin alone. Immediately he was hit by the overwhelming scent of sex, and of his and Reid’s scents mixing together. It made his heart flutter, especially when he saw that Reid had changed the sheets and created a new nest for them. Elin plucked the blond’s soiled shirt off the ground and pressed his face into it, not caring it was dirty from sweat and semen.

“Mine,” he whispered softly, unable to stop smiling. _I don’t want this to end._ He could hear Reid rummaging in the bathroom so Elin tugged his shirt on and turned to the bottled time. He knew he shouldn’t do it but he couldn’t stop himself. Biting his lip he went over and opened a jar, just a little, just to give them another hour...

He quickly put it back when he heard Reid come in and he turned around.

“Come _on_ ,” Reid wrinkled his nose and came over, gripping the hem of the t-shirt Elin had on, “Don’t wear that, it’s all gross and dirty.”

“Smells like you,” Hamelin mumbled. Reid’s expression softened but he still pulled the shirt over Hamelin’s head, messing up his damp hair.

“Well I smell like me too,” he smiled, “and I’m right here.”

 _For how long though?_ Elin’s sense was starting to break through the haze of his heat but he pushed his rational thoughts away, glad he had cracked open the jar. It’d give him and Reid an hour or two more of just being together...

Hamelin pressed himself into the blond’s arms and Reid didn’t hesitate in hugging him into his body before turning them around and walking Elin backwards until the backs of his legs hit the bed. The Omega fell onto the fresh covers and Reid climbed on top of him. For a moment Hamelin’s body throbbed with want and he thought Reid would fuck him again, but then the assassin just took Elin’s face in his hands and kissed him lovingly on the lips. Hamelin shivered. It felt really real, as if Reid was his mate, his Alpha, here to take care of him for every heat that would come after...

“Do you want to sleep?” Reid asked, kissing Elin’s cheek and then down his neck, marred with bruises, bites and hickeys. The Omega nodded. He wanted to get fucked still but where his cock throbbed against his stomach, the rest of his body ached with exhaustion. He had been unable to sleep for the past three days, writhing and crying on his bed, but having Reid next to him, feeling his warmth and being surrounded by his smell, was making Elin’s muscles relax and lulled him into sleepiness.

Reid rolled onto the side and then pulled Hamelin into his arms. It was like he knew what to do even though he wasn’t a Charasean Alpha. He pulled the cool covers over Elin’s overheated, naked body and wrapped both of his muscular arms around him, tucking Hamelin under his chin. The Omega happily nuzzled his face into the man’s neck, inhaling his scent. He bit back the _I love you_ that threatened to spill out of his mouth.

Reid stroked his hair, “I’m glad I’m here,” he said suddenly, voice hoarse and quiet.

“Hmmm?” Elin asked, unable to form coherent sentences. His eyes began to droop, the painful fire in his gut was giving way to a pleasant warmth as his inner Omega calmed down from the smell of Reid.

“I’m glad I can take care of you instead of that guy from before.”

 _Shar._ At the thought of the Alpha, the memory of his stench and words, Hamelin shuddered and pushed himself closer into Reid, a little pained whine spilling from his lips.

“Hey, shhh, shhh,” the blond felt Hamelin tense and kissed the top of his head before nudging him from his spot so he could duck down and kiss him, “I’m not gonna let anybody else touch you.”

Hamelin nodded, then closed his eyes and pressed their foreheads together. And then he was asleep.

***

Hamelin woke up, groggy, uncomfortable and sticky with sweat. For a moment he felt dizzy and disoriented as his cabin blurred into view. The starboard was still dead and dark, the galaxy outside unmoving.

Someone’s chest was pressed to Elin’s back, legs curled beneath his. A strong arm was around his waist and another under his head like a pillow. He could feel a warm breath on the back of his head. _Reid._

 _“Nghhh,”_ Hamelin gasped as a shock of pain went through him and curled himself up into a foetal position, squeezing his eyes shut. His skin felt like it was burning, sweat beading on his forehead and naked back. _Fuck._ Elin had no idea how long he and Reid had slept for but clearly he was in the last stages of his heat since it was back to being intense and painful.

The Omega turned to face Reid with some difficulty, his body screaming. His thighs were soaked with slick and his muscles trembled. When he saw Reid he had to bite back a moan and his body subconsciously pressed itself closer to the man, Elin’s hard cock brushing against the other’s stomach. Reid was still asleep, eyes closed, hair dried and fluffy. His lips were parted as he breathed deeply and Elin surged forward and kissed him.

“ _Reid,”_ he whined, and there it was, the vulnerable desperation. But Elin didn’t care if he looked weak right then, because all he needed was for Reid to make love to him again. Just the thought of it made Hamelin wetter and he whimpered, “R-Reid, wake up,” he gripped the man’s face and nuzzled it against his own, “Please,” he huffed out, breath and skin hot, “P-Please wake up...”

The assassin’s eyes fluttered open and for a moment he looked disoriented before suddenly his eyes widened.

“Elin?”he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Fuck me,” Hamelin mewled, kissing Reid in between the words and grinding up against him hurriedly, “P-Please, _stars,_ R-Reid I-I need you to-“

Reid was instantly awake and rolling on top of Hamelin, “I know, I know,” he murmured heatedly and started kissing Elin’s neck. The man’s eyes rolled back and he moaned, curving up against Reid, desperate for his touch. His body throbbed with desire and Reid pushed him back down, smoothing his hands over Elin’s naked body.

Hamelin wrapped his legs around Reid’s waist, “D-Do you want m-me to suck you off?” he asked even though he knew it was impossible – he could barely breathe, “T-To get you h-hard?”

“No,” Reid bit his jaw gently, “Just looking at you like this is enough. I can feel how wet you are,” he kissed Hamelin on the mouth and then, without warning, thrust into him. He wasn’t lying; he was completely hard and Elin felt a rush of pleasure and content go through him at the feeling of once more getting filled by the man he loved.

“ _Yes,”_ he gasped, “Oh Stars, _yes.”_

“Fuck, you feel amazing,” Reid admitted, brows furrowed as he gazed down on Hamelin.

The Omega didn’t need any time to adjust and they both knew it, so Reid wasted no time and in minutes he was thrusting into Hamelin roughly, slamming his cock against where he knew Hamelin’s prostate was.

Elin was a little overwhelmed. Pleasure assaulted him, chasing away the pain of his heat and leaving behind only mind-numbing bliss. The tips of his fingers tingled and shivers wracked his body while the thought of Reid being the one to do all this to him filled him with insane happiness that made him want to start crying. So, in short, Hamelin was losing it.

“Fuck,” he whimpered quietly, “Fuck, fuck, fuck...,” he couldn’t move, just laid there boneless and in ecstasy while Reid pounded into him. Hamelin just wanted to pretend that this would continue forever.

“Say you love me,” he gasped out, hands twisting into the covers beneath him.

“ _What?!”_ Reid’s rhythm faltered.

“I need to hear it,” Elin’s heart pounded, “I know you don’t, but just s-say it.”

Reid’s expression crumpled and for a second he stopped moving and just looked at Hamelin with intensity and softness and something that Hamelin couldn’t place...and then he grabbed the man’s hands and intertwined their fingers, pushing them down onto the bed.

“I love you, Elin,” he murmured and kissed his forehead before he returned to his bruising pace. Hamelin cried out and his back arched and then he _was_ crying, sobbing in pleasure.

“I love you,” he blurted, and he meant it. Reid was it for him, “I-I love you, I love you s-so much Reid, _fuck..._ it’s only you...”

“I’m here, I’m here baby, shhh...,” Reid’s grip tightened on the Omega, “You’re mine,” he growled and Elin didn’t really know where the words were coming from, or how Reid knew exactly what to say, and how he was so _perfect_ , “Just mine. Only mine, my baby, you’re perfect, I’m not letting anybody else have you,” Reid was getting feverish, kissing every part of Elin he could reach.

The Omega’s vision blurred and the edges started to darken. It was all just too much; he passed out.


	8. When Grey met Tallin

**3rd Aodh 1170 (the next day).**

**Somewhere in space.**

Hamelin woke up because he heard a low, constant humming that reverberated through the air. At first he didn’t open his eyes and his brain failed to register why he was even awake. He was warm, his body rested and his muscles relaxed for the first time since his heat started five days ago. There were strong arms wrapped around his waist, legs folded beneath his from behind. Warm, soft breath was mussing the top of his head.

Subconsciously the Omega shifted closer into the body behind him. He felt safe, protected, the smell that surrounded him put his heart and inner Omega at ease. _Reid,_ his brain supplied fondly.

Then Elin’s eyes snapped open and his heart started pounding. He saw his cabin, blinking with little lights – somehow _Piper_ was working once more. The Omega sat up, looking around blearily. His eyes landed on Reid, sleeping next to him. Blond hair, fluffy from the two showers they took yesterday, eyes closed, mouth parted, sleeping peacefully. And just like that everything that they did the previous night came flooding over Hamelin like a tsunami. He wanted to vomit, and buried his face in his hands.

He had _promised_ himself he wouldn’t be a stereotypical Omega, that he wouldn’t be needy and desperate and get overwhelmed, and _crave_ an Alpha the way he craved Reid.

Hamelin climbed out of bed and slipped into the bathroom, needing to be away from Reid’s alluring smell so he could think straight and decide what to do about the events of last night. But being in the bathroom didn’t help – the harsh light made him wince and when he saw his naked reflection in the mirror his stomach dropped. His white skin was marred with purple bruises and red hickeys. His neck was a mess, marked by Reid, finger-shaped bruises on his hips. His inner Omega preened, because his Alpha, his _mate,_ had left those...but reality sunk in. Reid hated Hamelin. The memories from last night were fuzzy, filled with unbelievable pleasure. But Elin had lost it.

 _Say you love me._ He squeezed his eyes shut, trying desperately to forget. He couldn’t believe he had just blurted his feelings out like that. And yes, Reid had fucked him, and yes, he was absolutely perfect and said he loved Elin, but the Omega wasn’t an idiot. He always suspected Reid was a big softie and the fact that he had taken care of Elin so well yesterday proved it, but he knew Reid didn’t have feelings for him, and that this could never happen between them again.

Hamelin crumpled to the floor as he was hit by intense pain in his chest, hugging himself. _It’s never going to happen again,_ tears welled up in his eyes, _he’s never going to hold me again._ The thought of having to go through his next heats alone...that hurt.

 _I’m stronger than this._ Hamelin took a few deep, shaky breaths and stood back up before he could drown in his misery, wiping his eyes. He pulled clothes up from the clean laundry pile and got dressed, ignoring the bathtub that he and Reid had been in together yesterday. He looked at himself in the mirror again. The black turtleneck he now wore covered his marked neck.

Elin walked into the cabin, making a plan of action in his head – _Piper_ was working again and Hamelin had a job to finish. He tried to remain stable when he saw Reid, sitting up in bed, yawning and naked and awake. Hamelin swallowed.

“Morning,” Reid was looking at him with soft eyes, voice hoarse.

“Morning,” Hamelin said evenly and walked to the starboard, hands dancing over the keys. Their blinking lights put him at ease.

“Are we going to talk about it?” Reid asked after a moment.

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Elin couldn’t even look at him, “Thank you for last night, but that’s that.”

“What?” Reid sounded puzzled.

“What?” Hamelin turned around, smirking, “You didn’t think this meant anything, did you?” he refused to register Reid’s expression, or body language. He just needed to get this over and done with, push this pain down, “It was just sex. Bloody good sex, but just sex.”

“I...,” Reid paused. “Right, yeah. Of course,” Reid stood up, “I’m gonna use the bathroom and then I’m on my way,” he said, unemotional. _No,_ Elin wanted to whimper, _please._ He dropped his gaze as Reid walked to the bathroom, “Oh by the way I came here yesterday to tell you that Rozene has a bounty on your head now.”

Hamelin didn’t even register anything. He wanted to curl up and die, “Ah. Great. Looks like you won.”

“Yeah,” Reid didn’t sound pleased. The door shut behind him. Hamelin slumped against the starboard and closed his eyes. He was right – Reid didn’t care. A tiny part of him had hoped that the man would fight for him, contradict him...but no, Elin had made the right decision.

He turned around and wiped his once-again-wet eyes before letting out a shuddering breath. He pushed aside his heartbreak and focused instead on the information Reid had supplied him; Queen Rozene had a bounty on his head. He wasn’t surprised, but he’d have to go underground for some time. He had enemies in the galaxies that would gladly kill him for some extra money.

The Omega brought up his log and scanned through his alerts; apart from the several-day blackout it seemed that Piper was in one piece. Whatever bug Shar had left on board had clearly only meant to incapacitate Elin for the period of his heat.

“Prick,” the Omega swore, then frowned. He saw something glimmering in the distance. His eyes narrowed as the object zoomed closer and closer...until Hamelin realised it was a ship, heading straight for him. _Don’t panic._ He pressed a blinking blue button and sent out a signal, but there was no reply from any nearby ships. Elin’s hands started to tremble and his heart twisted uncomfortably. Was it a fellow assassin, coming to get rid of him? So soon...?

“Shit, shit,” Hamelin swore. The ship was crimson, windows dark. Hamelin watched as two cannons ejected from its sides and his heart fell.

_Don’t panic._

In seconds, Hamelin was in survival mode. His fingers pressed buttons and pulled levers; he’d have to get his shield up, but _shit,_ Beelzebub was still attached to him and- Hamelin made a split-second decision that probably saved both him and Reid. With a soft hiss Piper ejected Reid’s ship from his side and then violently jerked left, just as the first laser-bolts flew from the red ship; they skimmed Elin’s shield, but he knew that his tiny _Piper_ was no match for this giant. Books and clothes flew across the cabin.

“Starsdammit,” Hamelin gritted out, trying to avoid the flashes of light.

 _Piper_ shook savagely.

With no warning, _The Bub_ imploded next to it, hit by one of the lasers, blinding the galaxy for a second. Elin watched, wide-eyed, as Reid’s ship fell apart, the inside charred. It didn’t explode, things didn’t explode in space. Instead it twisted and crumbled and in moments it was in pieces that floated through the air.

“What was that?!” Reid burst from the bathroom, towel around his waist, hair wet.

“We’re being attacked!” Hamelin yelled, and swerved the hits of the enemy once more.

“Is that my ship?!” Reid yelled.

“Fuck,” Hamelin barely dodged the next shot, and the one following hit the shield square-on. The starboard screens flashed red and Elin’s adrenaline spiked – the shield wouldn’t hold, he’d-

Reid dove and grabbed one of the jars of time and before Hamelin could stop him he cracked it open; it flew from his hands and the interior filled with smoke for a second.

The galaxy stilled. Hamelin was breathing hard, gripping the starboard. The enemy ship was still, the lasers frozen mid-air, moving too slowly for a creature’s eye to pick up. _The Bub’s_ parts were suspended as if the puppeteer who had moved them apart had fallen asleep somewhere in the sky.

“ _Fuck,”_ Reid plastered himself to the window, gritting his teeth. Hamelin forcefully pulled himself out of his shock and stood up straighter, “Fuck my _ship.”_

“It must’ve been an assassin coming for me,” Elin said, and _almost_ apologised. Reid rubbed a hand through his hair but his anger seemed to evaporate as he looked at the Charasean.

“We need to go to Golbahar.”

“ _We_?” Elin raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, but in case his pounding heart decided to burst out.

“Well, yes,” Reid snapped and pointed at the wreckage outside, “My ship is in pieces and I have a job to finish, so like it or not this is your fault.”

“I never asked you to come here,” Hamelin said. Reid looked at him coldly.

“Stop being a prick.”

“Fine,” Hamelin sighed, when really he was so _glad_ that Reid was staying. All he wanted to do was crawl into his arms. Instead he was cold, professional, “Why Golbahar?”

_Golbahar. It has trees and fields. Does he want to lie low with me? Maybe we could get a little hut in a little village and maybe, if we lived together and did everyday things together, maybe Reid would fall in love with me, and he’d stay with me, and I wouldn’t be lonely and-_

“That’s where Prince Tallin is,” Reid replied.

Hamelin’s heart clenched. He was tired of that, of the bitter disappointment in his mouth. It was easier before he fell in love with Reid months ago...

“Right,” Elin said softly, “It’s business. Well, let’s finish this.”

**7th Aodh 1180 (4 days later)**

**Golbahar.**

“Ugh, it’s boiling,” Grey remarked as he and Tallin ducked beneath the trees, heading to the cottage after a long day in the field. The Prince’s hands, usually so soft and delicate, were finally growing rough after weeks of hard work, the painful blisters on his palms falling away. He liked it; he felt it made his hands look more manly.

Pretending to be Aestla was the bane of his existence. Walking next to Grey now, with Lorcan and Archie trailing and bickering somewhere behind them, surrounded by the sound of cicadas playing in the hot fields and the lovely-smelling breeze, Tallin was almost happy. Grey was prattling on, grinning as always, wiping sweat off his forehead, and Tal was beginning to accept his... _fondness..._ for the Lynx, if only a little bit. If only he could be himself...

“Do you want to go look at the river later tonight?” Grey asked suddenly, glancing over at Tal and pulling him out of his thoughts. The Prince realized he had been staring, and then comprehended Grey’s question. The Lynx had a blush on his cheeks, with his tail swinging anxiously between his legs – Tal had quickly learnt that some Vlassain’s tails only came out when they were anxious, as was the case now. _Why is he nervous?_ Tallin wondered, “I-I mean you don’t have to!” the Lynx spluttered, because Tal was taking too long to reply.

“No!” the Prince protested, “N-No, sure, I mean, there’s nothing else to do...,” he looked away and bit his lip. Ever since the new year he had tried hard to be nice to Grey; he really liked the boy and he knew if he was cold and stand-offish his feelings wouldn’t be reciprocated. Not that they would be anyway while Grey thought he was a girl. _I need to do something about that._

“Oh,” Grey seemed relieved, “Okay. Great.”

The atmosphere between them was a little tense, a little awkward, as if electricity sparked in the space between them and Tallin wasn't sure why or how but something had changed in the past week. Maybe he was just warming up to the Lynx.

They arrived at the ladder leading up to the cottage; out of the chimney white smoke curled skywards indicating that Thorne was preparing dinner. Val’s sweet singing could be heard as she bustled about the balcony, hanging up white bed sheets that fluttered like flags in the gentle evening breeze.

Tal, Grey, Lorcan and Archie climbed up to the top swiftly – Tallin was good with the ladder now, no longer anxious or awkward as he climbed. He was getting used to life on Golbahar, and honestly he was enjoying it. The threats of his aunt and Fayaxiamen seemed far away, like a different life. The vast hallways of the Palace and his parent’s smiling faces didn’t’seem to belong to him any longer.

“Oh! You’re back,” Thorne smiled at the teenagers as they entered the cottage, stirring a bubbling pot of stew, “How was work?”

“Good, we got loads done,” Archie said excitedly.

“I’m going to nap,” Lorcan replied grumpily and headed for the stairs.

“Hey!” Thorne didn't look pleased, whacking the wooden spoon on the edge of the pot, “Dinner’s going to be ready in fifteen minutes!”

“That’s plenty of time to nap,” Lorcan waved her off and disappeared.

“I’m going to go clean myself up,” Archie said, kissed her older sister on the cheek and dashed off after her brother. Tallin looked at Grey, then at Thorne, and then bizarre words he had never used before tumbled from his mouth.

“Do you need any help?”

Thorne froze, then turned around and looked at Tallin in shock, eyes wide. The Prince heard Grey snicker but he stood his ground until eventually a warm smile spread on the girl’s face.

“Thank you, Aestla,” she said, “but I think I’m okay. Grey can help set up the table, why don’t you go change?”

“Yeah,” Tallin breathed, “yeah, okay.”

He hurried up the steps, not knowing why his cheeks were burning. It was only polite to ask, since Thorne was always so busy taking care of everyone else. It wasn't _so_ weird for Tal to be nice...was it?

“Whatever,” the boy grumbled and slipped into his room, shutting the door. He sighed and peeled off his dirty work shirt and pants before turning to his closet full of girl clothes. “Ugh,” he wrinkled his nose at the stockings and skirts and eventually settled on a pair of black leggings and a pink t-shirt. If he went too gender-neutral he was scared he’d look like a boy, and he had to be careful.

He glanced at himself in the mirror. The wig was in place, his face was still his, horribly girly. He touched his cheeks and sighed. It was weird, seeing himself in just his underwear with his face looking like a girl’s, but with his chest flat as a boy’s.

The door opened abruptly. “Hey Aestla I wanted-“

Grey stood frozen in his track, eyes wide. Tallin’s heart skipped a beat oh-so-slowly. Time stopped, just for a second.

Then Tallin screamed and dashed behind the closet, folding his arms over his chest protectively, eyes wide in shock. “Knock you prick!” he screamed.

“Oh my stars!” Grey whacked his hands over his eyes, but it was too late, “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I didn't see anything, I promise-“

“ _Get out!”_ Tallin screamed, so loud the whole house heard.

“Sorry!” Grey spluttered again and slammed the door shut. Tallin slid down the wall, shocked and horrified. Grey had seen, he had seen that Tal had no breasts, that he wasn’t a _girl._ His cover was blown just like that - what if they figured out his true identity, what if the Listrae’s decided to throw him out because his presence was too dangerous?! He panicked, gnawing at his finger-nails, on the verge of tears.

He had to go. Undoubtedly Grey would run to Thorne now, and they’d throw him out.

In an almost blind panic Tallin threw himself at the wardrobe, scrambling at the clothes inside in search of what he desperately needed. His hands closed over trousers and a leather jacket and he pulled them out. He threw on a t-shirt – a boyish one – and tugged on the rest of the clothes before ripping off his wig. He looked at himself in the mirror – panting, panicked, a boy once more. He looked like himself, like a Tallin, a seventeen year old, terrified Hybrid.

Then he turned to the window.

***

Grey was shit scared. He hadn’t been this scared since his parents died in the accident. And it was all his fault...again.

Aestla was gone, disappeared from her room as if she were never there, a messy explosion of clothes the only thing left behind. Grey had walked in stupidly, without thinking, and seen her half-naked and clearly it had traumatised the girl because she had ran away. Now, hours later, she was still nowhere to be found.

The whole family was out searching for her, but dusk was fast approaching. Vallea was home with Covi, with clear instructions to alert the other siblings if Aestla was to return there. Archie was searching the village, Thorne was out in the fields and Lorcan had, begrudgingly, agreed to search the abandoned village. Grey had headed into town, hoping that maybe Aestla had hidden in an inn or a bar and was trying to drink the embarrassing incident away.

Dusk was falling, the sky streaked purple as stars came out. The town was bustling with life, as always, as Vlassain drank after a hard day’s work. Grey, breathless from running around, circled the pubs and inns, asking about a pretty girl with dark hair but it seemed nobody had seen her. Every time a ship took off from the small landing pad behind the town, Grey’s heart pounded – what if Aestla had, stupidly, gotten on a ship and left the planet? Would Grey ever see her again if she did? They were just starting to get along...

 _I need to go to the landing pad._ Grey was dreading it but he was running out of options as the evening drew on; if anybody in the port had seen Aestla then he’d at least have his answer. Feet dragging and tail hanging limply between his legs, the Lynx dragged himself towards the pad. It was operated by one sparrow Vlassain, wings folded against his back as he instructed a ship where to land on the small lot with a neon indicator. There were only two other ships parked there, the crew members of one of them milling around while the other stood dark and silent.

“Excuse me,” Grey approached the officer when he finally managed to land the ship, “Have you seen a girl?”

“What girl, lad?” the Sparrow barely spared him a glance, “I’ve met plenty girls in my life.”

“Um...c-curly black hair, uh,” Grey was getting more and more agitated, his tail helplessly flickering, “purple eyes. Like, really peculiar purple eyes, like nobody has eyes like her-“

“Ey, lover-boy,” the Sparrow shook his head, “I ain’t looking at nobody’s eyes. But nay, there was no curly haired girl here today. In fact there was no girl here at all.”

Grey’s shoulders slumped – a part of him was relieved; he had no more leads but maybe it meant that Aestla hadn’t left Golbahar.

“Maybe she left on a ship, kid,” the Sparrow said, and Grey’s anxiety spiked again, “Alas, no more ships are leaving tonight. I’m going home,” he clasped Grey’s shoulder, “Good luck in finding your girlfriend.”

“She’s no my girlfriend,” Grey said dully. Though he kind of wanted her to be. It was bizarre; he had thought he liked other boys all his life but Aestla had made him feel warm and excited and eager and weird. And now she was gone.

Grey rubbed a hand down his face. Val wouldn’t understand why Aestla wasn’t there anymore. Covi would cry. Thorne would be more tired. And it was all his fault.

The Lynx was about to turn and return home, defeated, when someone caught his eye.

By the ship with the crew there was a young boy, probably Grey’s age. He had dark red hair that fell over his forehead and swooped gently over his ears, and he was talking animatedly – arguing – with who appeared to be the Captain of the ship. His mannerisms seemed weirdly familiar. Before he could comprehend what was happening, Grey found himself drifting closer to the bickering pair, and their words reached his ears.

“But why?!” the boy was demanding, “I’ll pay you, won’t I?”

“We’re a cargo ship, now scram.”

“But I’ll _pay_ you!”

“I don’t need your money, I need peace and quiet!”

The closer Grey got the faster his heart beat and soon enough he couldn’t deny it anymore – standing in front of him was Aestla. Except it wasn’t her. The boy’s eyes were the same striking purple, the face was the same, as was the voice. But Aestla was a girl and-

“Aestla?” Grey blurted, stopping off to the side and effectively ending the argument. The Captain and the boy both looked up and the boy who looked like Aestla whirled around, familiar eyes widened.

“Kids these days,” the Captain grumbled and walked off as Grey gaped at the boy, who dropped his gaze, jaw tightening.

“What...,” Grey breathed, “I...but...”

“Fuck off, Grey,” the boy whispered and _yes,_ it was definitely him.

“W-Who are you?”Grey spluttered, “A-Are you a Shapeshifter?”

“Grey, I’m leaving,” the boy was avoiding the question – he turned away.

“Wait!” Grey grabbed his wrist, preventing him from walking away, “Wait, please tell me-“

“My name is not Aestla!” the boy turned back around, angry, “my name is Tallin Moringathu and I-“

Grey’s eyes widened and Tallin’s voice faltered, dying away. They stared at each other and as realisation dawned on Grey his fingers tightened on Aestla’s – no, Tallin’s – wrist. And suddenly a lot of things made sense, like that heat deep in the pit of Grey’s stomach that he thought was reserved just for boys. And then...

“You’re a Prince. Oh my _stars,_ you’re a Prince,” Grey let go of his wrist and backed up, a little overwhelmed because he had never been in the presence of royalty, and also because...well, because Tallin looked so different and yet so familiar..., “Why did you lie?” Grey didn't understand, “Why were you dressing like a girl?”

“It’s...,” Tallin groaned and looked up at the sky, “ _Gods,_ Grey, why are you so fucking thick?!”

Grey blinked, “Huh?”

“I’m the heir to the throne of Fayaxiamen,” Tallin whispered, hands clenching and unclenching at his sides. He wasn’t looking at Grey, “There are people hunting for me and my family, I had to get a fake identity, I had to come here and- _ugh,_ now it’s all gone to shit and I _have_ to go.”

“No,” Grey blurted, “No, you can’t leave, it’s dangerous-“

“But if I stay I’ll be putting your whole family in danger-“

“I’ll protect you-“

“Grey you absolute idiot, you won’t be able to protect me against professional assassins-“

“Yeah I will-“

The laser bolt came from the dark ship, so sudden and violent that neither Grey nor Tallin registered it. One moment they were standing alone in the dark pad with just the other ship crew and the Sparrow and the next moment there was a sizzling wound on Grey’s shoulder.

For a moment he didn't understand what happened, and then came the white-hot agony. The world blurred and Grey’s vision focused on Tallin, on his face and his beautiful eyes full of horror, mouth open in a scream Grey couldn’t hear. The lot swarmed with people; a laser net fell on the ship with the assassins on board, shimmering.  

 _At least_ , Grey thought as he blacked out, _they didn't hit Tal_.

**8 th Aodh 1180 (The next day)**

**Rum.**

“Kai.”

 _Just go away._ The dancer squeezed his eyes just a tiny bit harder, as if that would make the outside world disappear and he’d be able to stay in the warm, safety of his bed forever.

“Kai!” the yell came a little louder, a little angrier, and seconds later Kalana’s long nails were digging into his ear and tugging painfully.

“Ow!” Kai jerked upwards, eyes flying open. Lana was leaning over him, jaw clenched, eyes angry. The Omega was dressed in furs, diamonds and little else. She also looked exhausted, Kai could tell despite the makeup on her face, “You’re going to be late again,” the girl said, irritated, “And after the shit you pulled after the lockdown Mr T won’t tolerate this behaviour.”

“Gods,” Kai grumbled, “What’s bitten _you_ in the ass?”

“Get up Kai,” Lana snapped and turned to the mirror, powdering her cheeks in the golden light of their bedroom.

Kaio closed his eyes briefly. How much longer? When would this end? He couldn’t do this for eternity, and now even his friends were falling apart. Kai looked around the room.

The Silvers were getting ready for their shift, shoulders slumped, eyes dead. It had been a week since the establishment had gone into lockdown, and a week since the last time Kai spoke to Aro. But he couldn’t even think about that man now; there was tension in the _Fragments_ and Kai felt like everyone could feel and that something – or someone – would snap soon.

Mr T was furious with him ever since he came back from Aros’, not understanding why Kai had even been outside. But Kaio was his best and most requested dancer so Mr T couldn’t do anything to him. Except hit him, that is. Or rather get one of the guards to hit him since Mr T himself was much too small to do any damage. He just watched as the tall guard whose name Kai didn’t know slapped the dancer across the face. The bruise on his jaw still hadn’t disappeared but that was okay, because Kai could just hide it with his Shapeshifting.

The atmosphere in the room of the silvers was horrible. Misamis and Gys weren’t even there, unable to stand it. Cavi was pale and unmoving in his bed, with Aemis leaning over him. Despite lacking expression on his fish-like face it was clear he was worried about their sick friend, pressing his webbed hand over his forehead, his cool skin acting as a shield against the fever. Tabora was lacing up her boots.

Kaio didn’t want to move, but Lana was right – he couldn’t piss Mr T off even more.

Heavily, the boy climbed out of the bed and stripped. Outside it was raining once more. The dancer padded to the wardrobe and opened it, shifting through rows of skimpy and see-through clothing before picking out a pair of loose, partly transparent purple trousers. They rested on his tanned hips when he slid them on. He looked at his lithe, lightly muscled chest and decided against a top – he’d have to eventually take it off anyway. Instead he ran a hand through his hair, changing it to match the colour of his trousers, and slipped on some golden flats.

“You going?” Lana asked, her eyes showing remorse for her earlier harsh words; she was undoubtedly just stressed about Cavi.

“Yeah,” Kai shoved his hands into the pockets of the trousers, “I’m gonna try to catch Q before she goes to bed.”

“Right. Yeah.”

The man went out into the corridor. The smell of the club made him want to gag, he felt oppressed by the scented air. He wasn’t going to be able to last here much longer – Aro’s apartment had reminded him that there were other places apart from this sleazy, miserable club.

“ _Name.”_ Alice the AI clanked. Kaio exhaled.

“Kaio Muji,” he said emotionlessly. There was a pause, and for a moment Kaio thought that the voice would ask him what’s wrong, that it’d detect the sadness in his voice.

But no. It was just an AI, and it didn’t care about Kai just like everyone else in this place.

 _“You-may-pass,”_ the mechanical voice came, _“enjoy-your-shift.”_

 _Aros._ Kai’s heart clenched. He didn’t know where to categorize his feelings for the guard – before it had been easy; Kai hated ugly people and Aros was ugly, so Kai hated him...except Aro wasn’t ugly. Despite his scars and roughness and bulk, he was kind of attractive, in a very rugged way. Maybe it was his personality, that gentle, caring side that Kai was privileged to witness a few rare times in the past weeks that made him think more of the man.

But Aros still hated him; the encounter in his apartment left a bitter after-taste in Kai’s mouth, especially since the guard seemingly avoided him ever since though callous his words continued to haunt the dancer. _You just don’t have anywhere to go._ He was right – Kai had nobody in the whole galaxy except the people in this sick, sick place. If he were to go outside, board a random ship, who knows where he’d end up. Maybe in a place worse than this...

“Kai.”

Q’s voice jerked him out of his dark thoughts but his eyes took a moment to locate the girl in the shadowy, smoky corridor. Finally Kai saw her, leaning against a wall. She didn’t look good; her pink curls were flat, her eyes dead and shadowed. Her skin was pale, sweaty.

“Q,” Kai panicked and walked to her, “What is it? Did something happen during your shift?” he tried to touch her but she pushed him away weakly, wobbling in her heavy shoes.

“I’ve run out of keleo,” Quetta rasped, “I forgot how unbearable this club is without it...”

“Q,” Kai bit his lip, “Shit, you need to get to bed-“ he tried to reach for her but Q slapped his hand away once more.

“I need my fucking drugs, Kai,” she growled. This wasn’t his best friend, Quetta was always happy, always kind...she wasn’t angry or aggressive like everyone else here. She looked bad though, and as much as Kai hated her addiction he didn’t want her to be like this.

“I’ll find you some, okay?” he promised, “I have some time before my shift so go to your room and I’ll get you some-“

“Fine,” the girl shoved past him and disappeared down the corridor leading to their bedrooms. Kaio let out a shuddery breath. He felt like he was going to have a panic attack – everything was falling apart in front of his eyes.

He went downstairs to the second floor and was hit by the stench of drugs – multicoloured smoke curled from beneath the multiple doors and Kai didn’t even know where to begin to look; who here would have keleo, and who’d give it to him? He had nothing to give in return, not even his body...

“Fuck, fuck, fuck...,” overwhelmed Kai found it hard to breathe.

“Hey, boy.”

The rough, hoarse, accented voice came from his left. When Kaio looked up he saw a huge Wurund towering over him, a monstrous beast of the ugliest species – eyes like a bugs, skin grey and scaly, bald head full of horns. He was half enveloped in shadows. Kai shuddered.

“You’re the Shapeshifter, aren’t you?” the Wurund asked.

“Yes sir,” Kai swallowed past his disgust and smiled in a way that he hoped was alluring, “how can I help you?”

“You look lost, are you looking for something?”

“Why, yes,” Kai sauntered closer. If he had to fuck this monster to get some drugs for Q then he would, “I’m in fact looking for some keleo, and...perhaps a man to give a lap dance to later?” he bit his lip playfully.

“Huh,” the Wurund huffed, “Well you’re in luck, boy, and you’re pretty too. I happen to have keleo. Tell me, if I want you to become a woman, will your pussy work as normal?”

Kaio fought a flinch, “Of course, sir.”

“Perfect,” the Wurund’s face twisted in something vaguely resembling a ghastly grin. Here was a customer Kai was _not_ looking forward to serving; he could already feel the pain. “How much keleo you want, boy?”

***

Minutes later Kai was hurrying back up the stairs, hands trembling as they clutched a bag of the rainbow-like crystals. He didn’t have a lot of time before his shift...

“Hey!”

The angry shout stopped Kai dead in his tracks. _What now?!_ the boy groaned internally, frustrated by how badly this day was going. That was, until he turned around and found himself facing Aros. His breath caught in his throat for a second and a sense of safety flooded him at the sight of the Ishait. _Fuck._ Kai just wanted to be back in the man’s apartment, to use his shower and wear his clothes and eat with him and then curl up on his bed and never come back here again...he remembered what Q once said, that keleo was her drug, and Aro was his.

“What’s that in your hands?” Aros demanded, and Kai was so taken aback by the roughness of his tone that he didn’t get to reply before Aro closed the space between them and pulled the bag free roughly.

“Hey!” Kai protested, heart skipping a beat, “Give that back you brute!” he tried to reach for it but Aro held it up to his face for inspection and Kai couldn’t quite reach.

“ _Keleo,”_ Aro hissed, a shadow passing over his face, “You doing drugs now?”

“So what if I am?!” Kai snapped, not knowing why Aro cared. Lots of the dancers did drugs to help them cope. And yet something about the man’s stern, angry expression made Kai melt, “It’s not mine,” he huffed, crossing his arms over his naked chest, “It’s for Quetta, she’s going through withdrawal.”

“And you think giving this to her is a good idea?” Aro asked, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s better than the alternative,” Kai snapped, “I don’t have time for this, Aros. My shift is starting, can you...,” his voice faltered.

“Can I what?”

Kaio gritted his teeth, “Can you go give it to her?”

“Oh?” Aro blinked, “and what would I get in return?”

“Stop being a prick!” Kaio yelled. The lights flared silver on the stages below them, past the balcony surrounding the half floor, indicating that Kai’s shift was starting, “just do it!” the boy shoved past Aros and practically ran downstairs, climbing onto his stage just in time with Lana, Misamis, Gys and Tabora. Aemis was nowhere to be seen, undoubtedly still by Cavi’s side. Kai thought that maybe Aros didn’t hate him enough to bin the drugs.

The lights felt too warm on the dancer’s exposed skin. In front of him was a room-full of creatures, as always each of the seats surrounding his stage was taken, the big Wurund from earlier sitting front and centre, smirking. Some of the creatures already had their hands down their pants. Kaio wished he could scream at all of them that they disgusted him but instead his hand wrapped around the silver pole that erupted from his stage. He slid around it slowly, leisurely, and by the time he made a full circle he was a gorgeous Charasean woman with blonde hair down to the waist and eyes as green as grass. A few first-time clients ‘oooh’ed’ in awe.

He winked at a male Shif, whose hand started to move more intensely in his underwear, mouth falling open when Kai pressed his big, naked breasts against the pole, allowing it to slip between them.

He lifted himself up gracefully, swinging his legs upwards and wrapping them around the pole, so he was hanging upside down and extended, his fingers skimming the floor of his stage. The music around him was thrumming, wordless, vibrating through his body. His skin rippled like water to the rhythm, turning as silver as the pole. His hair shortened, curled, and his eyes blazed crimson and suddenly he was a Karlshaf boy, mischievous and impish. He lowered himself back to the stage and wandered off, heading for a skinny, rat-like Vlassain woman. He touched her cheek and she shuddered in pleasure.

“Who do you want me to be, darlin’?” he gave her a dazzling smile and she stared at him, awe-struck, and she didn’t even have to answer. Kai’s body automatically changed into the person who he touched most desired.

He found himself becoming a dark-skinned, dark-haired Varsen man with a beard. He winked at the woman as some of the creatures groaned in disappointment as he returned to the stage, ensuring he kept eye-contact with the Rat as he performed his next few moves.

It was then that he noticed Aros standing at the back of the club, arms crossed over his chest, jaw clenched. Kai’s stomach filled with heat and suddenly he couldn’t look away from him – his shift slipped and he was himself once again. Aros looked angry, why did he look so angry? Was it the keleo, or was it just Kai as a whole?

 _I’m sorry I’m so offensive to you._ Kai wanted to cry. He didn’t have the heart to dance.

“Boy!” the Wurund from before barked and Kai dragged his eyes away from Aros to look at him. The man’s huge, scaly hand was exhaled, “Come here and become my bitch.”

Gods, the man was ugly. But it wasn’t just appearance; he had an ugly soul. And yet Kai had no choice but to go to him and do whatever the man desired, probably for a lower price because of the keleo he had gotten off him.

He walked over, forced a wobbly smile. He needed to do this. He slipped his hand into the man’s.

“Of course, sir,” he whispered airily and started to change. He shrunk, the Wurund growing even bigger than before. His hair grew again, his genitals changed, and yet he didn’t grow any breasts.

In moments he was a young girl – _too_ young. The Wurund’s eyes darkened with desire and he grinned predatorily. A murmur of discomfort went through the other client but Kai couldn’t move. This was too much; he couldn’t do this, whoever he looked like right now was a child – though perhaps it was better for the Wurund to fuck him instead of the real person.

Kai remembered being thirteen and forced to have sex for the first time. Bile rose in his throat.

Tuvian’s red hand wrapped around Kai’s wrist, pulling it out of the Wurund’s. Shocked at the sudden appearance of his boss, Kai shifted back to himself.

“My apologies, sir,” Mr T said, eyes hidden behind the dark goggles he wore, “However our dear Kaio over here has been requested by a client for the moment.”

“What?!” the Wurund growled, “but he was supposed to become my-“

“The boy has a job,” the rat-woman said icily and there were some grumbles of agreements. As dark and dirty as these people were, the Wurund’s stunt had made him unpopular. He glared now at both Tuvian and Kai.

“Off you go,” Mr T snapped to Kai, “up to room eighteen. I will handle this and ensure the customer gets his satisfaction.”

Kaio didn’t need to be asked twice as he dashed off, speed-walking for the staircase. Whoever requested him couldn’t have been worse than that Wurund. Kai couldn’t get into room eighteen fast enough.

And there he was, standing by the canopied bed, looking horribly out of place and yet bringing so much relief to Kai’s body that all his muscles relaxed and he slumped against the open door.

“Aro,” he breathed, and then collected himself, standing up straight, “I have a client in here.”

“Yes,” Aro’s face was unreadable, “You do. Close the door.”

Kai, confused, did as he was told. The door locked automatically and the two men just looked at each other. Aro’s face looked softer in the dim blue lights of the room.

“Well?” Kai prompted.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Aros asked, “I finally saved up enough money to buy you for a night. And here we are.”

Kai forgot how to breathe for a second. “You...you _what?!”_

“Horrified, aren’t you?” Aro’s mouth twitched into a bemused smile, “Just as I thought. Well, you don’t have much choice – besides, I’m sure you’ve had worse.”

“You don’t expect me to have sex with you,” Kai gaped, thrown off-track. His heart was beating scarily fast.

“Why not? I’m a paying customer.”

Kaio gritted his teeth and spread his arms, “Have at it then.”

“No,” Aros sat down on the edge of the bed, “I’m a customer, remember? You better treat me like one or Mr Tuvian will hear all about this.”

“You wouldn’t snitch,” Kai’s eyes narrowed.

“Treat me like a customer, Kaio.”

The boy pushed his pride aside and tried to pretend like he wasn’t a tiny bit excited; he didn’t know how to feel about the situation but he also knew that Aro wasn’t his friend and that he couldn’t trust him. So he did what he had to do.

A slow smirk curled over Kai’s mouth and he sauntered over to Aro, stopping in front of him and ignoring his pounding heart. Sitting down Aros reached his shoulders, and his unnerving eyes were focused on Kai’s face, not betraying any emotion or insecurity. It was infuriating. _There it is,_ Kai thought bitterly, _the power he had always had, finally lording it over me._

He slid into the man’s lap, his thighs pressing against the outer part of his legs. He wished he had put more clothes on now, even though Aro wasn’t looking anywhere but his face.

“Well?” Kai purred, gently running his hand down Aro’s muscular chest in a seductive way before ducking his head and pressing a little kiss to his neck, just below his ear. He couldn’t believe he was doing this with Aros...and yet it didn’t feel wrong. A little shiver went through Kai when he touched the guard’s naked skin, but Aro didn’t touch him back, “Who do you want me to be?”

“Shouldn’t you be able to tell?” Aro sounded amused. Kai’s face flooded with embarrassment. Of course he wasn’t sexy or alluring, not to Aros.

Kai’s hands clenched into fists on Aro’s shoulders, “I-I...,” his swallowed, “This is stupid,” he turned his face away to hide his blush. He had never felt so nervous with another person in his life. Usually he felt scared, or disgusted, or numb. Sometimes amused. This...he felt as if someone had plucked him off Rum and thrown him on some weird planet in the Eon galaxy, one he hadn’t seen before...he was out of his depth completely.

“It’s not stupid. I’ve paid to have sex with you. I bet I can even make you come.”

A shiver danced down Kai’s spine.

“You won’t even make me hard,” he spat, suddenly angry.

And just like that Aros’ entire demeanour changed. Kai’s world flipped and he found himself on his back on the bed, staring up at a pissed-off Aro towering over him, the canopy above his head.

“You’re such a little shit, you know?” the Ishait growled, and then grasped Kai’s cock through his trousers. The boy didn’t even flinch, just smirked because he was soft – this he could get behind, this was familiar territory – he could shame Aro now; Kai was the sex expert, not the Ishait. Kai would have him helpless, moaning and coming within the hour, just like he had his other clients.

“Out of your depth, H’ai?” Kai taunted.

Aros leaned down, pressed his nose into Kai’s hair, “I’m going to make you come so hard,” he whispered, directly into Kai’s ear. The smile tumbled off the dancer’s face, just like that, and before he could think of a smart reply, Aro’s mouth pressed against his neck. He kissed him there, rough and sudden, and Kai inhaled sharply before reprimanding himself – getting his neck kissed was nothing.

But the fact that it was Aro doing it made it _something._ His lips were warm, a little chapped, moving against Kai’s skin. He didn’t touch him anywhere else, just his neck, and he bit the skin there roughly. Kai hissed in pain when Aro bit him and the Ishait’s tongue immediately came out to smooth over the mark he had created, wet and hot, as if he didn’t actually want to hurt Kai. The dancer shivered again. Fuck, he couldn’t stop shivering. He looked at the canopy overhead and clamped his mouth shut, trying to detach himself from the situation, to forget that it was Aro who was kissing his neck.

It was hard. Aros alternated between licking Kai’s neck teasingly, peppering it with wet, open-mouth kisses and biting down or sucking hickeys. Within minutes Kai was warm, his fingers twitching, but he refused to let out a noise, or get hard, or do anything that would give Aros satisfaction.

“You think this will get me going?” Kai finally managed, glad that his voice was even. Aros bit down, hard, and Kai flinched.

“Shut up,” he growled, “You’re _my_ whore.”

He pulled away and tugged his shirt over his head, revealing his scarred, tanned chest. There were so many scars. Kai itched to touch them.

“Turn the light off,” he suddenly felt self-conscious and didn’t want Aro to see his expressions.

“Where would be the fun in that?” Aros asked, “If you couldn’t see my ugly mug you could just pretend it was someone else, like your little Chi.”

“What’s with you and Sahachi?” Kai snapped.

Aros didn’t reply, just turned him over unceremoniously.

“Wow,” Kai said dryly, “Way to get a guy going.”

He felt a warm weight on his back as Aro plastered himself against it, pushing Kai into the bed. He was close, so close. Kai felt dizzy, eyes fluttering closed as he pressed his face into the pillow.

Aros ripped off his trousers.

“Hey!” Kai protested, attempting to turn around, angry, “What do you think you’re doing you brute?! I need those for work!”

“Shut the _fuck_ up,” Aros shoved his head back into the pillow and then grabbed a handful of Kai’s ass in his big hand. The dancer shuddered, realising that he hadn’t put on any underwear, “You’re _my_ whore tonight, how many times do I have to remind you? I can do anything I want to you.”

Kai bit the pillow when Aro kneaded his flesh. He had been touched by so many people in his life, so why did it feel so _weird,_ with Aro? Kai was aware of the position of every one of the guard’s calloused fingers on his flesh. With horror he felt some heat drizzle down to his gut, and he was glad that he was laying on his stomach so Aro couldn’t see his cock begin to twitch to life.

Aros licked down Kai’s spine and the boy almost gasped, barely stopping himself. His hands clenched in the sheets below but he quickly released them; Aro couldn’t know how much this was affecting him.

And then the man was between his legs, biting at his thighs playfully.

“What are you doing?!” Kai demanded, craning his neck to look over his shoulder. All he saw was Aro’s white hair past his butt.

“Whatever I want,” the man replied arrogantly and then hands were spreading his ass cheeks. Kai shoved his head back into the pillow, sure Aros was trying to do everything to embarrass him.

That was, until the Ishait shoved his tongue inside Kai’s hole. The boy _did_ gasp then, shocked that Aro would go this far, that he wasn’t disgusted enough to-

“ _Ah-,”_ the surprised moan tumbled from Kai’s mouth as Aro licked a stripe against his hole before pushing his tongue back inside. It was wet and squirming and _fuck._ Kai started to breathe hard, light-headed as all the blood rushed south. He hadn’t gotten hard during sex _ever,_ and it was terrifying. “S-Stop-“

“What?” Aros sounded amused, his mouth disappearing from Kai’s ass. Instead he felt tips of fingers circling his hole, “You enjoying yourself?”

“You don’t have to do this,” Kai gritted, “I’ve prepped myself already, I’m all lubbed up, ready to go, so just-“

“I’m going to have you properly,” Aros interrupted him, coming back up and wrapping an arm around Kai’s waist from behind, before kissing his neck passionately, “because I can’t afford to make you mine you again.”

 _Make you mine._ The words struck something inside Kai and he let out a tiny, pathetic whimper.

“It’s okay,” Aro’s breath was hot on his neck, “You can admit you lost, that I make you hard.”

“Y-You don’t you fucking beast,” Kai growled. Aros pushed two fingers inside him roughly and Kai gritted his teeth. _This is nothing,_ he told himself, and it was. His body was used to much bigger.

“I’ll win this, Kai,” Aro said, beginning to slowly move the two digits inside Kai. His passage was wet, loose enough for the man’s thick fingers to comfortably rub all inside of him. It felt good. Kai’s cock throbbed and he bit his lip so hard he tasted blood.

“I bet you can’t make me come before I make you come,” Kaio blurted, needing to have leverage over Aro.

“Is that a challenge?” the Ishait asked.

“You betcha.”

Kai was sure he was going to win this – all the creatures he had been with succumbed to him eventually, giving in to his gorgeous body – until Aros suddenly started to finger him violently. Kai’s knees just gave out, and he slumped forward on the bed with a high-pitched, startled moan. Aro plunged his digits inside him wildly, pushing in deep and hard and Kai couldn’t _breathe._ He couldn’t do this, not when it was Aro, not when he was touching him, not like this, so fucking rough and _good_ and fuck...Kai’s cock twitched against the bed, his body assaulted by pleasure so intense he almost blacked out. Nobody had ever made him feel good, and Aros, _shit,_ he was making him feel so, so good just with this.

 _I need to transform into someone he wants,_ Kai could barely formulate coherent thoughts. If he could, it’d throw Aro off and Kai would get the upper-hand. _Yes._ Kai thought he began to shift, but he wasn’t sure, wasn’t thinking clearly enough. Then Aros added another finger inside of him, stretching him, his muscular arm the only thing keeping Kai up. It was so intense.

“ _Fuck,”_ the dancer gasped, trying to hold himself together somehow even if his body was failing him, his hips shifting wantonly, pushing back against Aro’s brutal hand, “ _Nghhh...a-ah!”_

“You’re hard, aren’t you?” Aro growled, and his voice just made Kai so much more aroused. His precum was soaking the bed, he forgot where he was, that this was his ‘work.’ All he could think about was Aros, holding him, making him feel this insanely good.

And just like that, the fingers and the arm was gone. Gasping for air desperately, Kai slumped against the bed. He had to wait a few seconds for his world to stop spinning, during which he heard Aros taking off his trousers.

“Have you come yet?” the Ishait asked, voice a little lower and more gravelly than before. Kai mustered up the strength to think of a retaliation.

“You think a little fingering is going to make me come?” he snorted.

“You seemed pretty fucking into it.”

Aros’ warmth was back, his chest pressing against Kai’s back. The boy almost whined in delight, and arched up against the man before turning his head, subconsciously looking for his lips. He didn’t even think about it, it was automatic. Aros wasn’t a client, he was a man that Kai wanted, that he was finally having.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Aro demanded, and Kai remembered.

“N-Nothing.”

The Ishait shoved his head against the pillows, “Should I make you suck me off first, or should I just fuck you?”

Kai wouldn’t be able to bear the shame of Aros seeing him now, all hard and horny, “Just fucking get on with it. Your dick isn’t enough to make me come, not even close.”

“We’ll see about that,” Aros seemed pretty confident and honestly Kaio was already dangerously close to the edge.

He felt the blunt head of Aro’s cock against his entrance, and it slipped in easily. Even without looking Kai could tell that Aros was big – which wasn’t surprising – just from the feeling of being filled accompanied by the burn of being stretched. But Kaio was used to it, his body eagerly accepted every inch Aros pushed into him. And they seemed to never end. Within seconds Kai’s eyes were rolling back and he was shaking, barely keeping back moans as he was filled up, stretched out, by that pulsing, hot erection.

just putting his dick inside Kai the way countless had done before him. But Kai’s heart was trembling, and he knew that this time was different and always would be and that every fuck since now would be a nasty disappointment.

 _Oh Gods._ Kai realised something as Aros bottomed out inside him with a soft groan. _This is it. This is the only time he will ever fuck me, that he will ever be inside him._

 _No._ He mouthed against the pillows, squeezing his eyes shut as he felt tears gathering behind his eyelids. _No, no, no._ He didn’t want this to be the only time.

“You’re surprisingly tight for a slut,” Aros grunted. Kai’s eyes snapped open and white-hot shame flooded him but he didn’t have time to focus on it because Aros was pulling his cock out then before shoving it back into Kai, hard and rough. The boy cried out as he was pierced. Aros was treating him like a prostitute, unfeeling, uncaring, and yet it was still good, pleasure curling inside Kai, pre-come dribbling over the sheets below his erect cock.

Aros repeated the movement, shoving his dick up inside of Kai roughly, then did it again and again until he established a bruising, almost brutal rhythm. His hands gripped the boy’s hips as he slammed into him, hard enough that it should’ve hurt and yet all Kai could feel was blinding pleasure.

 _“Aro,”_ he moaned, back arching.

“Fuck _yes,”_ Aros hissed hoarsely, “Say my name you fucking slut, go on, loose the fucking game.”

He pinned Kai down, bit down on his shoulders, causing Kai to cry out again. The tears were still in his eyes but he couldn’t stop the moans, spilling out of him freely. The room filled with the sounds of skin slapping against skin as Aros fucked him, bringing him closer and closer to the edge so quickly that it was terrifying.

_It’s because I’m in love with him._

The tears fell, just like that. For a second Kai couldn’t hear anything and his mind blanked. And then he was hit with nausea. No. No, he couldn’t fall in love with Aros, he couldn’t add heartbreak to the list of pain in his life.

“S-Stop,” he gasped.

“What?” Aros demanded, hips stuttering.

“S-Stop,” Kai’s voice was shaking and he tried to turn over, gripped by panic. His vision was blurry, he couldn’t see Aros face. He needed to get out, he needed to forget this ever happened. This was going to _ruin_ him. “Let go,” those words came out as sobs, “Let g-go, l-let me g-go, n-no, take it o-out-“

“Hey!” Aro said sternly and pulled out but when Kai turned and tried to bolt he shoved him back down, this time face up, “Hey, calm down.” He pinned Kai’s hands to the bed and Kai _couldn’t._ He was losing it, everything was going to tumble out of him and Aro would see, and he’d hate him even more and-

Another sob bubbled in Kai’s throat.

“Shhh,” suddenly Aro was close and gently nudging his nose against Kaio’s, “Shhh, it’s just me,” his voice was warm, gentle. His hands loosened on Kai’s wrists, his thumbs stroking the soft skin there. Aro stayed still for a moment, “It’s just me,” he repeated, “I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you.” Kai sniffled, his breathing calming down. He looked into Aros’ eyes. The Ishait kissed him quickly, briefly, just a press of lips, “Yeah?” he asked.

Kai swallowed, then nodded. _This is just sex._ He had to detach himself. Aro wasn’t even seeing him right now, he was seeing whoever he wanted to see and Kai was too fucked-up to focus on that, didn’t even know if he looked like a boy or a girl right now, “Yeah.”

Aros pushed back into him slowly, not looking away, and Kai’s eyes fluttered shut as a moan spilled from his mouth. Another tear slid down his cheek involuntarily.

“Why are you crying?” Aro breathed softly, and he sounded _hurt._ When Kai opened his eyes he saw that the man’s expression had softened, brows furrowed as if he didn’t understand, “Do you hate this that much? Do you hate _me_ this much?”

“No,” Kai blurted, “No, _fuck,_ you idiot-“

“Then what is it?”Aro’s fingers tightened on Kai’s wrists again, as if he was scared the boy would run somewhere.

“I-It’s just...,” Kai squeezed his eyes shut and barely managed to get the words out, “It’s j-just good, okay? I-It’s fucking good and...,” he shook his head, “Just finish.”

Aro released his wrists and carefully ran his fingers down Kai’s throat, finally allowing himself to properly look at Kai now that he had calmed down.“You’re really hard.” It didn’t sound like he was teasing.

“Shut up,” the dancer threw an arm around his face, embarrassed.

“You close?”

“M-Maybe,” Kai whispered.

“I still have to make you come first.”

He started to thrust into the boy again, and then he was pounding into him, just as he had before. His cock hit something inside Kai that made him see white, and he just kept hitting it. The dancer was writhing on the bed and sobbing, this time from the overwhelming pleasure. Aro’s hand wrapped around his cock but Kai shoved it away, thinking he’d actually pass out this time.

“N-No cheating!”

“You can come just from my cock?” Aros asked, taunting. Sweat beaded on his forehead, his eyes were half-closed, his long hair hung around his face. He looked so gorgeous and Kai wanted to have him forever.

“Yes,” he gasped, pride long forgotten, “Fuck, _yes,_ I can c-come from your cock,” he panted, his orgasm fast-approaching, “I can come f-from you inside me, s-so deep, _fuck-“_

“Stars,” Aros choked out, “You fucking cheater.”

He grabbed Kai’s face roughly and crashed their mouths together, shoving his tongue inside the dancer’s mouth. They were both a bit shocked when it was Aro who came first, right then, shuddering as he kissed Kai violently and emptied inside of him.

It was the kiss that did it for Kaio, so desperate and wild, the neediness in it. He wrapped his legs around Aro’s waist and pulled him impossibly close, whining as he felt Aro fill him up. He shuddered and exploded over his stomach, clinging onto Aro.

Kai couldn’t focus on anything but the feeling of Aro against him, his hot, sticky skin pressed into every crevice of his body as the dancer tried to remember how to breathe properly. He didn’t want to let go, _couldn’t_ let go, arms holding onto Aros. He wanted the whole world to disappear.

Aros wasn’t moving, just held Kai as they both came down from the climax. Just as reality started to filter in and Kai began to panic about what to say next and how not to mess this whole thing up, angry banging came on the door. Aros flinched violently and jumped from the bed and Kai scrambled for his clothes, cheeks burning. He felt cold and empty.

“Who is it?” he called, voice shaky and hoarse, world still spinning a little. He and Aros got dressed without looking at each other.

“It’s me,” Lana’s muffled voice sounded from the other side, “I know you’re in there with Aros.” For some reason that made Kai blush harder, “But you need to finish up – Mr T wants to see you. Aros your shift is starting.”

“R-Right,” Kai managed, “I’ll be right there.”

He looked at Aros just as the man pulled on his shirt, back turned to the dancer. Kai’s hands anxiously clenched and unclenched and he opened his mouth, but he didn’t know what to say. _That was amazing_ sounded cheap, and _I love you_ would ruin everything. He had to go about this the-

Aros pulled a stack of blue coins from his pocket and put it on the little table by the door.

“Excuse me for not tipping,” his voice was emotionless. Kai’s heart fell, and he felt a hysterical giggle bubble in his throat that he somehow managed to stifle. _Idiot,_ he scolded himself, _What did you think was gonna happen? Did you think he was going to fall in love with you because you’re good at sex? That he’d see something special in you once he fucked you? No, he got what he wanted, and I shouldn’t be disappointed._

“Didn’t expect you to afford a tip anyway,” Kai said faintly. Aros didn’t reply, just headed for the door. And just like that he was gone, once again the cold, distanced guard as if he hadn’t just fucked Kai’s brains out and stolen his heart.

The dancer exhaled. It was fine. It’s not like he was going to stay in this wretched world for much longer anyway.

 _Ah._ His eyes landed on the mirror – one of the few pleasures in his life would be finding out who Aros thought about while he fucked him. Kai was curious about what kind of person Aro was into, and who he had shapeshifted into during sex.

He padded towards the mirror and looked at himself.

And there, in the reflection, was just him. Aquamarine hair messy, blue eyes glazed, creamy skin flushed. Even the bruise that Tuvian had gifted him was on his chin.

It was just him. Aros had thought about him while they fucked. For some reason Kai couldn’t breathe, and just stared at himself.

 _Mr T._ He remembered suddenly and turned from the mirror before he could get overwhelmed and get inside his own head. He’d sort out Mr Tuvian and then, later, sort out the feelings.

As he headed to his master’s office he felt like he was flying because there was a familiar feeling in his chest, one he hadn’t felt in ages – hope. Aro made him feel like things could change maybe, _if he didn’t think about anyone else while we me maybe he liked me.._. He knocked on Mr T’s door.

“In you come,” came back the gruff voice, so Kai did. Even Tuvian’s office couldn’t make him feel any less happy, neither could the man’s ugly red face.

“You wanted to see me?” Kai asked, standing in front of the alien’s desk. Tuvian barely peeked out from behind his sleek desk, goggles fixated on Kai, turban piled high on his red head.

“Ah, yes, my most valuable dancer.”Tuvian grinned.

Kaio didn't reply. He hated the man in front of him more than he hated anyone else.

“You’re very pretty, Kai,” Mr Tuvian produced a long black pipe from his desk and lit it. Orange smoke curled through the empty office lazily, “You’re wasting away here,” the man continued, voice raspy, “Wasting your potential.”

Kai didn’t like where this was going, “What potential?”

“Your sex potential, of course,” Mr T laughed chillingly, “See, someone had taken a liking to you tonight.”

 _Aro?_ Kai didn’t understand, “What are you saying? I should do a private dance? I’ve been bought for the night?” the thought of fucking someone right now, with the memory of Aro’s hands still on him, was unbearable but Kai pushed that aside.

“No, no, Kai,” Mr T tutted, “it’s much better than that. We have a buyer for you. You remember the Wurund from downstairs? He will be your new master.”

“ _What?”_ Kai gaped at his boss.

 _“_ Come on, you’re a bright boy,” Mr T said, “This shouldn’t make much difference to you, whether you dance here for me or you dance somewhere on Daliat. Maybe it’s even better, eh? You won’t have to please so many people,” he cackled. _Oh my stars,_ Kai felt bile rising in his throat. Was he hearing it wrong?!

“B-But why?!” he managed.

“Mr Krahai will pay me more than all the clients combined. Besides, you’re nearly out of your prime, in a few years you’ll just be another loose, overused whore,” the man’s voice was unbothered, as if Kai was an inanimate object he was selling off.

“But y-you can’t...”

“My dear boy, you’re wrong. Of _course_ I can. I own you.”

“Don’t you have a heart?!” Kaio demanded, “Even just a little one?!”

“Maybe I do. I’ve called some specialists here to help with the whole process; we will wipe your memory, start fresh. So Mr Krahai can train you to be his perfect little pet. You won’t even remember you were here, isn’t that nice?”

“No,” Kai’s heart dropped, “ _Please._ You can’t do this! They’re my family, they _need_ me! Cavi is sick, and Quetta-“

“Oh don’t worry about that. That Cavi boy won’t last long, and we are already getting rid of Quetta’s body.”

“How can you be so heartless-,” Kaio started and then choked on a gasp when he realised what Tuvian had said, “Quetta’s...Q-Q’s...what...?”

“Oh you haven’t heard. Right, you were working,” Mr T sighed, as if he had encountered a minor inconvenience, “Your little friend took too many drugs and jumped out of the window. They’re scraping her off the pavement outside as we speak. A shame. She was a good dancer, and I have lost profit...”

Kaio didn’t hear the rest. All he heard was white noise in his head, slowly spreading through his body and numbing everything. Was this really happening? How could Q be dead, Kai _just_ saw her! She had just been with him, spoken to him...how many hours ago? How could everything fall apart so quickly...how...?

“Ah, don’t cry, little boy. You’ll forget about this very soon.”

Tears dripped down Kai’s cheeks.


	9. When Mr T met The Memory Wipers

****

**9 th Aodh 1180 (One day later)**

**_The Mnemosyne._ **

Fynley woke up gently, softly flittering out of the depths of his sleep.  There was a hand on his cheek, cool and gentle, the fingertips rough with calluses. Fyn never thought he’d like to be touched, not when _he_ touched him like _that._ But Fyn, even though he was still partially asleep, knew that it was Navan that was touching him. He knew where he was; in the Captain’s bed, where he was every night, dressed in a t-shirt and boxers, snuggled into the Ishait’s side. _Stars_ it felt nice, to be woken like that, to not be violently jerked awake or jolted by a street rat scuttling over his face as he’s curled in a cold alleyway-

The clone’s eyes fluttered open. For a second he saw Navan’s expression, sleepy and soft. The Captain looked young despite the stubble on his jaw, hair all messy and purple, looking at Fyn gently. But then he was snatching his hand away from Fyn’s cheek, which he had been stroking.

“Hey.” The Captain said.

“Hey,” Fyn said. His voice was all hoarse and scraggly so he awkwardly cleared his throat, “Hey,” he said again, averted his gaze. He loved this. He loved these moments – it wasn’t morning technically since there were no ‘times’ in space. But Fyn’s internal clock always woke him up after at least eight hours of sleeping by the Captain’s side, so this...this was like the morning after. In these moment Fyn could pretend that he and Nav were a couple, that they had been on the _Mnemosyne_ all their lives, being pirates together and now this. That Earth 6.2 never happened. That Fyn wasn’t a clone. That Nav liked him back.

Fyn’s eyes slid over the Captain’s shoulder and landed on the huge window on the opposite side of the room. The familiar star-sprinkled galaxy was nowhere to be seen, instead the _Mnemosyne_ was suspended over a planet shrouded in dark purple, seemingly throbbing clouds.

“Where are we?”

“Above Rum right now,” Navan sat up, too quickly, before stretching and yawning. Fynley curled his pale hands into his chest to stop himself for reaching for the Captain. This was strictly platonic.

“Oh, right. The job,” Fyn mumbled, remembering that they were heading to Rum to memory wipe. Navan climbed off the bed and stretched his arms over his head again until his joints clicked. He wasn’t wearing a shirt and his muscles rippled on his tanned back. Fyn squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip, trying to get a hold of himself. He also sat up and quickly patted his hair down; it was getting really long now, brushing his jaw and falling into his eyes so that Fyn was finding it kind of hard to see. But he didn’t want to cut it because that meant showing his face, and his face wasn’t _really_ his.

The boy slipped out of bed and picked up his overalls from the floor where he had dropped them when he arrived and pulled them back on. Navan was standing by the window, running his fingers through his hair. Fyn hesitated.

“I need to start the shift,” he said. Nav turned, smiling.

“You should come down, see the job done again. Unless you want to be a janitor forever?” his eyes crinkled in the corners adorably.

“No, no,” the clone mumbled, “I’ll...um...I’ll see you in a bit then.” He slid out of the room.

***

Being back on Rum brought back a lot of memories for Navan, a lot of memories he didn’t want to dwell on. He stood at the window in his office watching the smoke curl up into the sky outside. Endless nights, lawless. Rum used to be what he called home back when he was scared to sleep without a gun by his head. Things were different now.

“Cap?” Lieja stuck her head around the corner of his office door, blond and blue hair pulled into a bun, dressed all in black, “The client’s here.”

“Right, coming.”

Navan followed the Shif girl down the winding corridors of the ship and within minutes they were in the erasing room having taken well-known shortcuts. Lieja was blabbering on about how she wanted to go to the strip clubs but Nav wasn’t really listening, head in the clouds. He was feeling much better the last few weeks with Fyn in his bed and everything, and his mind subconsciously flitted to tonight when he could be back in his bed with Fynley. His touch was so comforting and warm.

But business first.

The door to the erasing room opened with a soft hiss and Lieja entered, followed by Nav. The seemingly wall-less room no longer made Navan’s heart jerk in his chest the way it had the first few weeks and he knew that although it looked as if there was nothing separating him and the swirling, purple atmosphere of Rum that stretched all around him, in fact there was.

The usual crew members were gathered around, swiping through hologram of information with Tira already at The Eraser, expression unreadable on her fishy face, a steady hum coming from the machine. In the chair in the centre of the room, the Eraser pointed at him, was a boy, a barely-man. He was absolutely breathtaking, with aquamarine hair and angry, sparkling blue eyes that were glaring at the tip of the machine pointed at him.

“He’s a Zalian,” Lieja whispered to Navan as they stopped near the boy, “A Shapeshifter.”

Navan nodded, wondering what memories such a young man might want to erase. Standing to the side of the boy was another creature, short and stout, with red skin and large goggles covering his eyes. He had one hand on the back of the chair, claws digging into the boy’s shoulder in a way that looked almost painful. Nav didn’t like the position, especially since the Zalian sat hunched as if subconsciously his body wanted to lean out of the touch of the other creature. Navan glanced at the hologram nearest to him, where the boy’s identification card flickered.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, “Let’s begin. Kaio Muji,” he started, despite the discomfort creeping up his spine. He didn’t like this situation, “State your purpose.”

The crew looked at the Zalian expectantly, waiting for a reply so they could continue with the procedure. But the boy didn’t say anything, hands curling into fists at his side. The red-skinned man’s fingers dug more tightly into Kaio’s shoulder but the boy didn’t even flinch. Fyn did though, across the room, the movement catching Nav’s eye and making him look over to where the janitor was standing anxiously in the corner, his expression full of hurt and upset. He hadn’t noticed him before and it made Navan’s heart clench.

“I am the boy’s owner,” the red-skinned man spoke suddenly, voice raspy and hissy, “I will reply for him.”

“Apologies,” Navan replied, forcing a smile, “but memory wiping is a legal job in this galaxy, and so we need legal documentation to authorise every wipe. We need to have the subject’s consent, I’m afraid.”

“Kaio,” the boy’s owned growled, “answer the man.”

His voice held a threat. Navan couldn’t help but wonder what the relationship between the two was; on Rum anything was possible. It made Navan increasingly uncomfortable and he could see it was also affecting his crew as they shifted awkwardly and exchanged glances – nobody liked the look of this man, and the scared stance of the boy.

 _“Kaio,”_ the man growled again.

“I-,” the boy managed, and his voice seized up. He swallowed visibly, “I, K-Kaio Muji, am here t-to wipe my m-memory...m-my memory f-from...,” he was having trouble getting the words out. Navan’s hand clenched and unclenched subconsciously. In this terrified boy he saw Fynley and he wanted to dash across the room and envelop his little clone in his arms and protect him from horrid men like the one behind the client. But who would protect Kaio?

A tear fell from the boy’s face, shielded by his hair. It caught the light and shimmered silver as it dripped into his lap.

“That’s it,” Nav’s eyes met Tira’s and without hesitation the woman flipped off The Eraser, cutting off the hum of the machinery and making the holograms flicker out. People looked relieved – Fyn slumped against the wall, clutching the mop to his chest, “We’re not doing the job.”

“Look here, Captain,” the red-skinned man appeared displeased, “I am sure we can come to a consensus. This is Rum, laws need not apply here-“

“No,” Navan said firmly, coldly, “I won’t take his memories against his wishes. It is true that you are free to do whatever on this star-forsaken planet, but so are we, and we refuse to wipe his memory.”

“Fine,” the red-skinned man spat and grabbed the boy’s arm, violently jerking him out of the chair, “I will find some other memory wiper and shower them in money.”

“Do as you please,” Navan wasn’t going to be moved by monetary gain. Those days were behind him. He only wished he could somehow keep the Shapeshifter on board the _Mnemosyne_ but there wasn’t much he could do – on Rum, Kaio was the red-man’s property, “A shuttle will take you back down.”

“This way,” Wien appeared at the side of the two men and opened a door for them. As they stepped through, Kaio turned around and Nav got a good look at his face – the boy looked terrified. He looked right at Fyn and then the door closed and the two of them were gone. The tension disappeared from the air.

Lieja exhaled in relief, “Well that was horrible,” she said in the tone of someone who was watching a sad documentary, as if Kaio was nothing but a passing, sad thought. She turned to go back to her other duties. Nav watched his crew disperse, disappearing down the many doorways leading off to the different parts of the ship.

His legs automatically took him to Fyn, who was still by the wall, staring at the ground and gripping his mop. The Captain resisted the urge to hug him.

“Hey,” Navan cracked a smile, “Sorry about that. It was a bit intense for a second time-“

“We need to help him,” Fyn looked up and pushed his over-long chestnut locks out of his face so Nav could see the urgency in his silver eyes. For a second he was lost in them, then cleared his throat and looked away.

“What?” he had already forgotten what Fyn had said.

“That boy, h-he...um...his name was Kaio, I-“

“Do you know him?”

Fynley shook his head desperately, “No. No but he looked at me and he looked s-scared-“

“Hey,” sympathy flooded Nav. Fyn was so innocent. He placed a comforting hand on Fyn’s shoulder, “It’s okay. Things happen. There’s not much we can do, okay? Rum has no laws.”

“But there must be something!” Fyn gushed, “We could take him to a different planet, where-“

Navan shook his head, “We can’t,” he said, as gently as he could, “If he is truly that man’s slave then he belongs to him and I can’t break their contract.”

“But...,” Fyn’s bottom lip trembled and his eyes welled with tears, “B-But there must be something...”

Fynley was breaking Navan’s heart and the man had never wanted to make anything alright so much before. He wanted Fyn to only ever smile, to be happy. He wanted Kaio to not look so scared. The galaxy was such a dark place.

Something dawned on Nav. _Wait a minute..._ he turned abruptly from Fyn and swiped his hand over the air until the hologram of the boy’s ID came up. Kaio’s face stared at him, defiant and nothing like the afraid boy that had sat in the chair minutes ago.  Nav’s eyes danced over the boy’s details and landed on the _position_ section.

**POSITION: DANCER AT _‘THE THIRTEEN FRAGMENTS’_**

_Thirteen Fragments..._ that rang a bell.

“Nav?” Fyn asked behind him, “What is it?”

“One second...,” before he could even search anything a webpage appeared in front of him – the webpage of _The Thirteen Fragments._ Sometimes Nav really thought his ship was alive and knew exactly what he needed, “Thanks,” he whispered under his breath and then read the page. His heart started to pound. It was appearing that the _Fragments_ was more than just a strip club...

“Nav?” Fyn touched the small of his back lightly, and warmth spread through the Ishait’s body. His eyes fluttered shut for a second and then opened before the Captain could lose himself in the pleasure. Fyn, looking at him innocently, had no idea how much power he held over Nav, “Can we do something?”

“Yes. I think we can.”

Fynley hugged himself into Navan’s back, suddenly and almost roughly, pressing his face between the Captain’s shoulder-blades as his hands curled into the front of the man’s shirt. He was trembling.

“Thank you,” he whispered.

Slowly, hesitantly, the older man’s hand came to rest on top of Fyn’s.

**10 th Aodh 1180. **

Grey woke up gently, softly flittering out of the depths of his sleep.  There was a hand on his own hand, warm, trembling, the delicate fingers interlocked with his own, thumb stroking the side of Grey’s hand. Through his half-asleep state Grey tried to figure out who was holding his hand – was it Archie? Covi...? No. It felt different. The smell was different, the touch was tentative, shy.

 _Open your eyes, idiot._ It took a lot of effort but somehow Grey managed to get his eyes to crack open. Immediately he closed them again since the light that slipped in was offending and hurt his brain. Actually the light seemed to hurt everything; his whole body ached. Slowly, Grey forced his eyes open again and this time they stayed that way.

He was in the bedroom that was now Aestla’s – no, Tallin’s. It was early morning, the light outside grey and filtering in through the window and not intense at all though Grey’s heavy eyes seemed not to care as he winced. The sky outside was tinged pink, dawn fast approaching. Tallin was on the floor by the bed, one arm curled so that he could lay his head in it. His free hand was in Grey’s, holding it. He wasn’t asleep, but his eyes were half-closed as he looked at their interlocked fingers, stroking Grey’s hand gently, sleepily. He was back to being dressed as a girl in a light blue dress, dark hair curling past his shoulders.

“Morning,” Grey croaked.

Tallin flinched and sat up straight, going to pull his hand out. Grey stopped him, squeezing his fingers. He felt weak and sick, but he knew that he didn’t want Tal to go anywhere – he couldn’t really remember how he got into bed.

“You’re okay,” Tallin breathed. His purple eyes were gazing at Grey, so familiar and yet so different.

“What happened?”

“What I said would,” Tallin dropped his eyes in shame, “Some assassins. They were aiming for me but...,” Tallin’s other hand shot out so he was gripping Grey’s with both of his trembling ones, “they g-got you. The lot was alarmed and their ship was disengaged, and then the officials showed up, and...a-and um...,” Tallin was babbling, a little hysterical, staring at their joint hands and shaking, “w-we had to get you to hospital, a-and call T-Thorne and I was so scared, I thought y-you’d die a-and...,” he jerked up suddenly and threw himself at Grey, hugging him fiercely, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

The Lynx was taken aback by Tallin’s display of affection and then pain flared in his chest, “O-Ouch,” he mumbled weakly, but his arms came to hug Tallin back. He was warm and firm and the pain was nothing compared to the warmth spreading through Grey’s chest at holding him.

“I’m okay now.”

“It’s all my fault,” Tallin said brokenly, hugging Grey even tighter.

“It’s okay,” he stroked Tallin’s hair – or rather, the wig he was wearing. It was as if the boy suddenly remembered where he was all of a sudden and he slipped out of Grey’s arms, blushing. “Where is everyone?”

“Thorne’s in the city with Val and Covi. Archie’s gone to a friend’s house and Lorcan’s downstairs.” Tallin bit his bottom lip, “S-So...,” he swallowed and tried to gather himself, “How are you feeling?”

Grey looked down at himself for the first time since he woke up. He was shirtless, and the top part of his chest was bandaged up. It hurt a little though he assumed since he was at home and not the hospital it wasn’t too bad. He couldn’t help but crack a smile.

“I’m fine.” He said, “Glad it didn’t hit you.”

Pain flashed in Tallin’s eyes and he hugged himself, “Why are you always so nice to me?” he demanded, catching Grey off-guard, “Why are you so stardamn selfless?!”

“Am I supposed to be selfish?” Grey didn’t understand. Tallin pursed his lips, then exhaled, shoulders slumping as if he realised he was being an asshole.

“You got hurt because of me.”

“I don’t mind,” Grey smiled. Sure, he was aching but at least Tal was okay, “Why didn’t you tell me who you really were?”

“It was too dangerous,” Tallin whispered, not looking at Grey.

“Yeah, but it’s _me,”_ Grey said, “I thought we were...,” he bit his lip and looked away, “Dunno, friends.”

“You don’t know me, Grey,” Tallin said softly, “all I’ve done is lie to you. And be a brat.”

Grey’s heart skipped a beat and he smiled, “Yeah. You have been a brat. Was that part of the persona too?”

“No. I’m just a prick,” Tallin didn’t seem proud, “I didn’t-,” he started then stopped again, anxiously pulling the sleeves of his dress over his hands, clearly looking for words, “At the beginning...I-I didn’t hate you or anything,” a pretty pink blush rose to his cheeks, “I was just...I don’t know, jealous, maybe?”

“Of me?” Grey blinked in surprised. Tallin shrugged.

“You were strong and kind and caring and I was just being bratty and annoying and not acting like a...,” he trailed off.

“Tal,” Grey reached out and took the Prince’s hand – it was still weird to think of him as that, “Can I call you Tal?”

“Yeah,” the boy replied, kind of breathlessly, and didn’t remove his hand.

“You had just been ripped away from your planet and parents and told you might get assassinated. I’m not surprised you were being bratty.”

“There you go again,” Tallin brushed his red bangs out of his eyes with his free hand, the gesture a little agitated, “Being so kind. You guys lost your parents and I still...”

“Yeah well,” Grey ignored the pain in his chest, “that was my fault so I didn’t want this time to...to...y’know...”

Tallin frowned, “You never spoke about what happened. How was it your fault?” he flushed, “sorry, you don’t have to tell me anything. There I go again, being entitled, you really don’t-“

“No, it’s okay,” Grey didn’t talk about that day much since it filled him with pain and guilt. But Tallin looked so worried and haunted with what happened right now and Grey needed him to know that this, him getting hurt, wasn’t the end of the world. “I was ten when they died,” he said, swallowing past the lump in his throat.

The sun still hadn’t risen properly outside, and Tallin intertwined their fingers, shutting up.

“It was the summer,” Grey looked at their linked hands so his mind didn’t return to that day and he didn’t drown in his memories, “we were at the beach, celebrating the new year. All I wanted to do was just get in the water,” he smiled, “Golbahar seas are pretty. The water’s pink.”

“O-Oh,” Tallin said shakily, “We...um...we should go...sometime...”

Grey nodded, “Thorne was only a year older than I am now, and was planning to go to Sousnan for her party year with all her friends but...,” he smiled tightly, “She never ended up going. Uh...everyone else was very little. I remember Vallie was just building sandcastles for hours and hours, all in a straight line right next to each other,” it was a nice memory and Tal smiled at the fondness and nostalgia in Grey’s voice, “But then Lorcan went and stomped on them,” the happiness slipped from Grey’s voice, “Vallie, of course, began to cry and set off Covi, who was only a few months old. Then Archie started crying too.” Grey closed his eyes briefly, the sound of his siblings crying seeming to echo in his head, “Ma got a headache. Thorne took the kids and got all of them to calm down. And I-,” he opened his eyes and exhaled shakily. _Just tell the story._ “Ma wanted to go to the water but she didn’t want to take me. She needed a break, and I began to cry. And Covi started crying again. I just...,” he bit his lip, pain spreading through his chest, “I just didn’t want the day to be ruined, y’know.” Tallin stroked his hand, “Ma walked off towards the sea, and Pa went after her, leaving Thorne in charge. He caught up to Ma, and grabbed her hand, and they walked down the beach and then...,” he choked on the sob that bubbled up in his throat. He didn’t expect to cry, and the sound was surprising. Tears filled his eyes, “T-They didn’t...t-they didn’t know there’d s-still be mines on the beach-,” he ripped his hand from Tallin’s and rubbed his eyes, not wanting to cry in front of the boy, “Shit, sorry-“

“Hey,” Tallin lifted himself up onto the bed and pulled Grey’s hands from his face, squeezing them. There was infinite and new kindness in his eyes, “Hey, it’s okay.”

“If I just hadn’t cried,” Grey’s voice cracked and tears spilled from his eyes.

Tallin pushed himself forward and wrapped his arms around Grey’s neck, hugging him fiercely, “Shhhh,” he murmured as his nimble fingers slid into the shorter hair at the nape of Grey’s neck comfortingly, “Shhhh, you’re okay.”

“If we just hadn’t...,” Grey buried his face in Tallin’s skinny shoulder. He smelled like the forest. Another sob spilled from Grey’s mouth.

“You were children,” Tallin sounded choked up too, and he stroked Grey’s hair, and then his ears which had perked from his head when he grew emotional. It made Grey relax and melt into Tallin’s grip. Despite being smaller the Prince seemed so strong to Grey then, holding him up, “It wasn’t your fault, Grey,” Tal whispered. They stayed like that for a while, Grey sniffling. Then Tallin squeezed harder and real, palpable pain spread through Grey’s chest, chasing away the old pain in his heart.

“Ouch,” he flinched away.

“Sorry!” Tallin exclaimed in panic and pulled away. He looked a bit of a mess, hair untidy, eyes a little red-tinted as if he was almost crying. The sun broke through the trees and sunshine rays fell through the window and onto the Prince’s face. Tallin flinched from the light, squinting. He shielded his eyes with his hand, “You okay?” he asked Grey, who was still staring. Just looking at Tallin made him forget everything else, even his painful memories. Suddenly he felt tired, his chest throbbed where he had been shot.

“I’m okay,” he whispered, “But there’s something that would make me feel better,” he knew it was stupid, and cliché, and that this was _Tallin_ in front of him. But _fuck,_ Grey just wanted...his eyes fell to Tal’s mouth.

Neither of them said anything. The air crackled with electricity.

Once again the Prince shocked Grey because he leaned forward with no warning, breaking the tense silence, and kissed the Lynx as if he could read his mind. His lips were trembling, his over-long fringe brushing Grey’s forehead. The kiss itself was light, gentle, timid. When the Prince tried to pull away Grey’s arm jerked out and he wrapped an arm around Tallin’s waist to keep him closer, ignoring the pain spasms in his chest. Tallin didn’t fight him but leaned into him instead, kissing him harder and breathing shakily against his lips.

The floorboards in the hallway creaked and Tallin jerked away. He was blushing, “I...uh...I’ll ring Thorne and tell her you’re awake.” He slipped out of Grey’s grip and the Lynx tried not to mourn that.

“Hey,” he blurted as Tallin walked quickly to the door. The Prince glanced to look at him, pushing his wig behind his ear. Grey swallowed, terrified of rejection, and gripped his covers in his hands. “You’re...you’re staying right?”

Tal smiled shyly and bit his lip, hesitating only for a second, “Yeah. ‘Course.”

Grey smiled at him and Tallin slipped from the room.

***

Tallin’s heart pounded in his chest as he stepped into the gloomy corridor where the sunlight of dawn hadn’t quite reached the dusty floor. The house was quiet but Tal’s heart was so loud the boy didn’t even notice, focusing only on the insistent pounding in his chest. He walked towards him room but his legs felt like jelly and he was forced to lean against the wall. He tried to bite back a smile as his hand pressed over his chest, but it was impossible – the grin slid back onto his face.

He had kissed Grey, and Grey had kissed him back. The fear of being found out and the confusion of his feelings seemed to glide off Tal’s shoulders, leaving behind insistent relief and hopeful happiness. Maybe everything would be okay; the assassins were gone, and Tal was safe, and maybe now...

“What are _you_ smiling about?” the harsh voice came suddenly and made Tallin flinch. He hadn’t seen Lorcan lurking in the shadows.

“N-Nothing,” he self-consciously touched his wig to ensure it was in place; Grey might have known his secret, but the rest of the family didn’t – the Lynx had been rushed to the hospital straight from the landing lot and Tallin had ran home to dress back up into his girl clothes.

“Do you think this is funny?” Lorcan slinked closer, voice low and dangerous. Tal had always seen him as a moody teen but now, with his silver tail swinging between his legs, he looked dangerous. And angry. He was a few inches taller than Tallin when he came to stand in front of him, threateningly sliding into his personal space, “Do you think my brother laying there, almost dead, is funny?”

Tallin’s elation evaporated and he was gripped with anxiety. Lorcan’s accusations also made him irritated, “Of course not,” he hissed.

“It’s your fault,” Lorcan said coldly, icy blue eyes narrow. Tallin swallowed.

“I...I...,” he tried to think of something to say. Lorcan _didn’t_ know that it actually _was_ Tal’s fault, and the Prince couldn’t blow his cover-

The hand on his throat was sudden and violent, squeezing his airways so that Tal choked on air and didn’t get to utter another word. Lorcan pushed him hard against the wall and kept him there and Tallin stared at him with wide eyes, hands flying up to grip Lorcan’s, attempting to pull it off his neck. It didn’t work.

“I know who you are,” Lorcan growled, and Tallin froze, “Your cheap wig never fooled me. I just needed evidence, and that letter was enough to confirm everything, Prince Tallin.”

Tal’s blood ran cold. _The letter from Greige..._ during his escape he hadn’t taken it, careless-

“The assassin’s came quickly, didn’t they?” a shadow passed over Lorcan’s face, “They were easy to find, only had to tune the radio to shadow web connections. Plenty of them littering the galaxy. I thought it’d be better if they just killed you out there somewhere, away from my family.” Horror flooded Tallin. _No._ Lorcan looked away, his fingers loosening. “But of course Grey was there, trying to take care of everyone as usual,” Lorcan said bitterly, “and they hit him. Because of _you..._ and me...,” the Lynx let go and stepped back, tail flicking anxiously. Tallin tried to process what he had just said. _He wanted me to die._ The realisation almost made his legs buckle. Yes, he and Lorcan had never been close but Tal had felt safe in this house, had considered the Listrae’s his family.

 _“Why?”_ he croaked, tears of betrayal prickling his eyes, the kiss with Grey was but a distant memory.

“Because this is _my_ family, not yours,” Lorcan hissed, glaring, “I don’t particularly want a part in your murder but I won’t lose any of my siblings because of your selfishness. We only have each other.” He exhaled and shoved his hands into his pockets, looking to the side as if he couldn’t stand the sight of Tallin, “I’ll give you a little advice, _Aestla_. If I was you I’d pack my shit and leave tonight, just disappear.”

“I tried that-“

“Well try _again,”_ Lorcan growled, “I want you out of this house. I want you never to come back.”

His words stung, but Tallin knew he was right. His shoulders slumped.

“Alright. I’ll go.”

Lorcan nodded, “Good.”

And that was that.

**(The same day)**

**Golbahar.**

“Are you _sure_ it’s him?” Reid growled.

“For the third time – _yes,”_ Hamelin hissed, glaring at his partner over his huge glass of untouched beer.

“Well I can’t exactly _see,_ can I?” Reid grumbled, trying to discreetly glance over his shoulder.

They had landed on Golbahar early that afternoon and now, well into the evening, their target had finally appeared. It was almost too coincidental. The two assassins had been carefully prodding at the Vlassain living in this small town, posing as a married couple and trying to find out if any newcomers had arrived in the last months but everybody was pretty reluctant to talk. This part of the planet was a maze of little villages and not everybody knew everybody.

The charade was getting to Reid – it was hard for him to act ‘lovey-dovey’ with Hamelin, especially with how cold the Omega had been after they had fucked. The air between them was tense, and after a few hours of no leads Reid had hoped a drink would help him relax. He and Hamelin had selected an inn at random and were now situated at a table in the corner, drinking sage beer. Well, at least Reid was drinking, Hamelin was looking at anyone but the blond and absent-mindedly running his fingers over the rim of his cup in a way that shouldn’t have been enticing but was. The inn had filled up over the course of the evening and now almost every seat was taken – cheerful folk music was floating throughout the cosy room, lit with flickering warm lights in jars. Bawdy, drunk men were singing and a couple of girls that seemed like deer were dancing in the middle of the room. The atmosphere was lovely, right up Reid’s alley, but the assassin couldn’t enjoy it, not with reality pressing down onto him. He hadn’t completed the job, _Bub_ was destroyed and – most importantly – he and Hamelin were in a cold war.

Things had changed a little over twenty minutes ago; the men’s idle and tense chatter laced with insults was interrupted by the sudden and shocking appearance of a girl.

At first neither of them paid attention because, well, they were looking for a Prince, not a Princess. But Reid, whose back was to the rest of the room, saw Hamelin get increasingly more distracted as he looked over the blond’s shoulder until he finally said that he was sure the girl was Tallin.

Reid only caught glimpses, a young, pretty dark-haired girl sulking in the corner with a pint of the same beer they were drinking. But Elin studied him – or _her –_ close, and discreetly scanned her with an identity matcher. The face that came up on the screen between the two men was one of none other than the Prince.

Now, twenty minutes later, they weren’t sure what to do.

“We can’t kill him here,” Reid said, his foot subconsciously finding his gun under the table, where it was hidden in his ‘guitar’ case.

“No shit,” Hamelin gave him a look, “We need to wait for him to leave, follow him, finish the job, pack him up onto _Piper_ and boom, done.”

“Don’t know why you’re still bothering, you won’t get the reward anyway.”

Hamelin shrugged, “Hoping you’ll put in a good word for me and Rozene will take the bounty off my head.”

Reid snorted into his drink, “It’s not likely to deter all the people coming for you anyway.”

Hamelin shrugged, clearly not interested in continuing the topic, and glanced at Tallin again. Reid watched him, his dark eye-lashes and cold gaze. The assassin in front of him was so different to that wanton, blissed-out man that had been lying under him just-

Reid shivered and drained the rest of his beer, cheeks burning. What happened between them was a one time thing, Hamelin had made that pretty clear. There was no point dwelling on it. This Hamelin in front of Reid was the real Hamelin – cold, calculating and ruthless. Reid was still kind of in love with him anyway.

“Idiot,” Reid hissed at himself, beating himself up mentally for even thinking that.

“What?” Hamelin grumbled, dragging his eyes away from Tallin.

“Nothing,” Reid cleared his throat, “So, uh, what’s the plan after we end the mission?”

Hamelin shrugged, “Dunno. I’m leaving, obviously. Think I’m done with this assassination business. Might be nice to settle somewhere...maybe here,” he smiled, and it looked more like a sneer. Reid swallowed.

“Right.”

Suddenly Hamelin’s eyes narrowed, “Shit. Someone’s come to get him.”

Too impatient, Reid turned in his seat and looked at where Tallin was sitting. Sure enough another young boy was there, someone Reid didn’t recognise. He was tall, young, with grey hair and a grey lynx’s tail. He had Tallin by the wrist and was pulling him up angrily while the Prince muttered something to him hurriedly and glanced around. The Lynx didn’t look interested in explanations and dragged the squirming cross-dressing Prince out of the inn, a few interested eyes following them, wondering why a teenage boy was dragging a girl outside.

“Now’s our chance,” Hamelin all but jumped to his feet, throwing a few coins onto the table and grabbing his jacket, “Let’s go.”

Adrenaline spiking, Reid picked up his guitar gun and hurried after the Omega, ignoring the looks they got – undoubtedly people thought they were going to rescue the girl, not kill her. Outside it was dark, the four moons of Golbahar hanging ominously in the sky. The air was still warm and sticky and made Reid’s skin itch. No, this planet wouldn’t be suitable for him to settle down. Once more his mind fleeted to Arossa, to the pretty scenery, the calm air...

Hamelin’s hand gripped his wrist suddenly and the Omega hauled him behind stacked up barrels.

“You’re useless! You want us to get caught?” he hissed, and peeked around the edge of the barrels. Reid could hear angry, aggravated voices and he leaned over Hamelin, ignoring the point of their bodies that sizzled with heat where they touched, and saw Prince Tallin arguing with the grey Lynx.

“...this is the second time, Tal. The _second time!”_ The Lynx looked angry. _Really_ angry. He was wearing a jean jacket, open, and Reid could see the bandages on his chest, “How many more times are you going to run away?!”

“I told you it’s dangerous!” Prince Tallin snapped, “I’ve already gotten you hurt! You shouldn’t have come after me!” he was shouting too, but unlike the Lynx he seemed upset rather than angry. Reid watched as the Prince attempted to turn away – the Lynx’s hand shot out and grabbed his hand, whirling him back around. It was still hard for Reid to think of this girl in front of him as Prince Tallin. His target. He seemed awfully small...Reid never killed kids before...

“You don’t get to decide alone!” the Lynx growled, pain flashing in his light green eyes. His expression softened, “You kissed me, Tal. You promised you’d stay.”

The air seemed to thicken and suddenly Reid felt like an intruder. He watched the exchanged between the two boys with bated breath, forgetting about his mission. But Hamelin didn’t. He carefully and quietly pulled a gun from his pocket.

Reid reacted in seconds, making a final decision in his head – whoever the Lynx was, the Prince was clearly in love with him. Reid would have no heart if he shot the boy dead now. So he got to the floor and grabbed Hamelin around the waist, jerking him backwards.

“What the-,” the Omega hissed angrily but Reid just pulled the gun from his hands and shoved it aside. His back was against the wall of the inn now, Hamelin between his legs, Reid’s chest against his back. The assassin was struggling, trying to wriggle his way free of Reid’s strong grip but the blond refused to let him. He pulled Hamelin tightly against his chest, squeezing his legs to stop the man from escaping, and pressed a hand over his mouth so he didn’t alert the two boys to their presence.

“I don’t want to endanger your family.”

“You _are_ my family, Tal. You can’t just go.”

“I didn’t want to. I want to stay with you...it’s just...”

“Just what?”

Hamelin continued to squirm in Reid’s grasp, trying to bite and scratch at his palm, but the blond just squeezed him close and focused on his warmth. He’d never get to hold the Omega this close again. He closed his eyes.

“Stop it,” he whispered gently, gripping both of Elin’s wrists in his free hand. Hamelin tried to elbow him.

“It doesn’t matter now anyway,” the Lynx was speaking again, “a letter came for you earlier.”

“Huh?”

“From your family. Apparently there was another coup on Fayaxiamen and Rozene was overthrown.”

“ _What?!”_

“Yeah. Thorne went to give you the letter but you weren’t there. I...I was worried so I opened it and read it and I came looking for you-“

The Lynx was cut off abruptly; by what, Reid didn’t know. He heard a muffled gasp. Hamelin went slack in his arms, giving up the fight. That’s when Reid comprehended what he just heard.

Their mission was over. Rozene wasn’t queen anymore.

He exhaled, his breath ruffling the top of Hamelin’s head.

“Let’s go inside,” the Lynx was talking again, voice lower and shakier, “It’s too late to go home now.”

“Y-Yeah, okay.”

Reid tensed as the two boys walked around the barrels. They stopped in their tracks and blinked down at Reid and Hamelin in their weird position.

“Uh...,” Grey glanced around the dark road-side, “Everything okay?”

Hamelin angrily pulled Reid’s hand off his mouth, “Fine,” he spat.

The two boys didn’t linger, disappearing back into the inn. The moment they were gone, Hamelin was on his feet.

“For fuck’s sake!” he growled, and Reid registered the blush on his cheeks. He stood up and stretched.

“No point being mad now. The job’s done. Neither of us won.” He felt relieved.

Hamelin’s shoulders slumped and he hugged himself, grumpy. Reid tried not to feel empty now that his purpose, his mission, was gone, “I’m gonna drop you off on some planet. Where do you want to go?”

 _Arossa,_ Reid’s heart twisted, _with you._ “Don’t care. Anywhere’s good really.”

“Right,” Hamelin was looking to the side.

“Are you...what are you gonna do?” Reid cleared his throat awkwardly. Hamelin smiled wickedly.

“I’m done with this gig. Maybe I’ll go into creature trafficking next.”

Reid gave him a look and stood up, “Not funny.”

They walked past the inn and down the dirt-road snaking between the adorable little cottages on Golbahar, leading towards the landing pad. When they reached it the officer that helped them park was nowhere to be seen and the only ship on the dark lot was _Piper._ Hamelin was heading straight for it, and Reid realised he had to say something.

“Hey, Elin-“

The laser shot came out of nowhere, dashing through the darkness and so bright that for a moment Reid thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. But no; the shot missed the back of Hamelin’s head by inches and exploded into a nearby bush, setting it on fire.

For a second, everything stilled.

And then the world exploded into action. Assassins jumped from the trees surrounding the lot, weapons raised. Reid tried to count; one, two, three, four, five...they were aiming at Hamelin, most of them anyway, and the Omega was sprinting for the ship dodging bolt after bolt. Adrenaline mushroomed in Reid’s veins and his heart started to pound. Without thinking he wretched open his guitar case and lifted his own weapon, aiming at the closest assassin.

They were all in black, faceless, which made them easier to kill.

The shot from Reid’s weapon took down the closest assassin, but another pointed its weapon at Reid. The blond ducked aside, fear gripping his throat, but the other three were still shooting after Hamelin. _Piper_ hummed into life and the lights flooded the lot, making the assassins easier to see and stunning them with brightness for a second.

Reid fired at the creature coming for him, and it fired back. A shot bounced off _Piper,_ another almost hit Reid’s shoulder. The blond wasn’t thinking, just moved automatically. Another one of his shots got the creature in the head, making it explode, spraying grizzly blue fluid over the lot.

Reid whirled around – Hamelin was scrambling into _Piper,_ the doors closing behind him. _Good,_ Reid felt brief relief, _he’s gonna be fine._

Another shot flew over his head and broke up into sparks where it hit the pavement. Now that Hamelin was out of the line of fire the three remaining, angry assassins picked Reid as their next target.

“Shit,” the blond hissed and raised his weapon, firing blindly as he tried to dash away, heart throbbing. He knew, somewhere in the back of his brain, that he was going to die. He didn’t really mind though. The engines of _The Pied Piper_ hummed louder – any second Hamelin would escape.

 _He’s gonna leave me._ The thought hurt – not because Reid was scared to die alone, but because it meant that he meant so little to Hamelin.

The world exploded in flashing lights for the second time, more intensely. Reid stumbled backwards and fell, his gun flying from his hands as his mind helplessly tried to comprehend what was happening.

 _The Pied Piper_ had opened fire, shooting green laser beams at the remaining three assassins. They were dead in seconds, ripped apart by the powerful force of the weapons sticking out of the sides of the otherwise smooth ship. Just as quickly as it had began, the light stopped, leaving only darkness and smoke behind. Reid was in shock, ears ringing even though the lasers had been silent.

The door of _Piper_ opened with a gentle hiss. Reid scrambled to his feet and grabbed his gun. People were pouring from the nearby houses, gasping in shock at the wreck on the lot but Reid didn’t care as he sprinted on-board Piper. The moment he was on, the door slammed closed and the ship took off, lurching to the side. Reid fell. Someone was shooting after the escaping vessel, but all the shots missed. _Piper_ accelerated, climbing through the clouds and then the atmosphere. In a few, short minutes the ship was back up in space.

Reid laid on his back and stared at the dark ceiling, shocked and confused and trying to calm down.

Hamelin appeared, standing above the blond and grinning down at him.

“Well,” he said, beaming, “That was fun.”

Warmth and love flooded Reid’s body so violently he almost choked. He managed to kick out, swiping Hamelin off his feet. The Omega let out a startled yelp but Reid caught him before he slammed into the floor, rolling them over so Elin was on his back.

“Hey,” the Omega laughed, though he looked unsure, “I thought we were friends now, y’know, I saved you ass back there-“

“Shut up,” Reid gritted out, “Just _shut up.”_

For once in his life, Elin listened to him. He looked up at Reid and the Shif could see all the insecurity and uncertainty in his dark eyes. Elin had been scared, but so had Reid. He held himself up with one arm now and with his free hand he gently cupped Elin’s cheek. The Omega flinched and looked at him, confusion flooding his features. Reid looked at him, he just couldn’t stop looking. Elin was safe, he was safe. They were both safe.

“You...,” Reid swallowed, trying to find the right words. His thumb brushed over Elin’s bottom lip, “I-I...I...I didn’t...I don’t want anyone else...I-I...”

“Just kiss me,” Hamelin sounded broken when he said it, like he was done pretending.

Reid leaned down and did just that, slow and gentle and caring, the way he had wanted to kiss the Omega in days. Elin melted as if that kiss was a confirmation that everything was going to be okay. Reid’s finger slid behind his ear, into his hair and he gently caressed the Omega’s neck. The kiss didn’t speed up, it remained unhurried and passionate and warm.

 _Piper_ was on auto-pilot, zooming into the galaxy, and Reid just kissed and kissed Hamelin on the floor of the entryway until he was breathless and his lips were numb and all of his body heat had sunk into the man beneath him. Elin’s hands gripped the back of his jacket.

When they finally broke apart Reid felt light-headed. Elin’s eyes fluttered open and he looked at Reid with all the fondness in the world. His mouth was swollen, so the blond touched his lower lip again. Hamelin grinned and tried to playfully bite his thumb. Reid smiled.

“You’re an idiot.”

Hamelin was back to his normal self, smirking confidently up at Reid, “Not as much as you,” he looped his arms around Reid’s shoulders, relaxed, happy. Reid never wanted to let him go, but he knew he had to be tentative. Neither of them could name what was between them now.

“So...uh...,” the blond cleared his throat, “Who usurped Rozene?”

Hamelin smiled, “Apparently that little Shif slave she had, Felion. He came up with this whole plot and,” he shook his head, looking at Reid’s mouth, “Honestly I don’t know. It’s kinda hard to concentrate right now with you above me.”

Reid smirked, but decided to tease a little more, “A little Shif slave, huh? Usurped a Queen all by himself?”

“Nah. Apparently some Princess Eilo helped.”

Their lips met again.


	10. When Navan met Rohan

**10 th Aodh 1180 (The Same Day)**

**Golbahar.**

Grey loomed over Tallin and he saw the shock in the Prince’s lilac eyes; somehow the idiot still didn’t think that Grey would come after him. It just pissed the Lynx off more. He didn’t care that it looked as if he was abducting some innocent girl – he grabbed Tallin’s wrist.

“Don’t-“ the Prince warned but Grey didn’t give a fuck. He was _done_ with Tallin making all the decisions. Ignoring everything and everyone, spurned by the fury of finding out the boy had ran away _again,_ the Lynx hauled Tallin outside.

“Grey!” the Prince yelled, struggling as Grey rounded a stack of barrels, “ _Grey!”_

The moment they were out of ear and eye sight of the patrons of the inn Grey had found Tallin at, the Lynx whirled around. Whatever Tallin was going to say died away as he saw how furious Grey looked – Tal had never seen him like that. He backed up a little, putting the barrels behind his back.

“I can’t believe this,” Grey seethed. Seeing the boy alive and in once piece filled him with relief, but didn’t make him any less pissed off. Did he really mean so little to the Prince that he could just leave without even saying goodbye?

“ _Grey,”_ Tal sighed, exasperated. Grey wanted to rip the wig off him, the dress too, everything. He wanted to talk to the _real_ Tallin.

“This is the second time, Tal. The  _second time!”_ The Lynx managed, ignoring the aching in his chest. His wound wasn’t healed, he hadn’t cared that Thorne told him not to go. He couldn’t bear to just let Tallin go, not when things were finally starting to make sense..., “How many more times are you going to run away?!” he demanded.

“I told you it’s dangerous!” Prince Tallin snapped, the familiar defiance filtering onto his face. He crossed his arms over his chest and let out an annoyed huff, pushing himself off the barrels and coming closer to Grey, “I’ve already gotten you hurt! You shouldn’t have come after me!” he raised his voice. Grey glared at him. Tallin glared back, then attempted to turn and leave. Desperation gripped Grey – _no, don’t go..._ his anger slipped away and he grabbed Tal’s wrist without thinking, spinning him back around so his skirts whirled.

“You don’t get to decide alone!” the Lynx growled, hauling Tallin closer and ignoring the boy’s struggling. Pain flared in his chest at how angry Tal looked. Grey’s expression softened; he couldn’t stay angry at the Prince for long, “You kissed me, Tal,” he whispered softly, aware of how insecure and pitiful he sounded, “You promised you’d stay. Were you faking it?”

“I-I...,” something unreadable flashed in Tal’s eyes and he looked down at his feet, the curls of his wig shielding his expression. With the hand that wasn’t gripping Tal’s wrist, Grey reached up and brushed the curls from his face. Tallin nudged his hand away, but not roughly.

“Stop it.”

“Tell me why you left,” Grey pleaded quietly, “Give me a good reason and I’ll let you go, I promise.”

 “I don’t want to endanger your family,” Tallin turned his face even more.

“You  _are_ my family, Tal,” the words spilled from Grey’s mouth before he could stop them, but he didn’t regret them once they were out, even if Tallin did tense up, “You can’t just go.”

“I didn’t want to,” the boy gushed suddenly, ripping his wrist free and taking a few shaky steps back. His face was conflicted and he was chewing on his bottom lip, “I want to stay with you...it’s just...,” he groaned in frustration.

“Just what?” Tallin didn’t answer but he didn’t make a move to leave either. _Now’s a good time to tell him._ “It doesn’t matter now anyway; a letter came for you earlier.”

“Huh?” Tal looked up.

“From your family. Apparently there was another coup on Fayaxiamen and your aunt was overthrown,” Grey shrugged. Tallin’s eyes widened comically.

“ _What?!”_

“Yeah. Thorne went to give you the letter but you weren’t there. I...I was worried so I opened it,” Grey blushed a little, not wanting Tal to get angry, “and read it and I came looking for you-“

Suddenly there were lips on his, kissing him insistently and clumsily. Grey flailed, almost fell, before grabbing handfuls of Tallin’s dress. _Oh my Stars he’s kissing me._ The Prince had to stand on his tiptoes to do so, and he gripped the back of Grey’s neck and just as the Lynx began to melt into the kiss, it ended.

The two stared at each other, faces inches apart. Grey was scared his heart wouldn’t handle all the emotions flooding him. He could barely think straight – all he wanted was to kiss Tallin again. And get some answers.

 “Let’s go inside,” the Lynx said quietly, not realising the implications of what he was saying; at home everything would just get messier, “It’s too late to go back to the cottage now.”

“Y-Yeah, okay,” Tallin didn’t even hesitate, his eyes flittered to Grey’s mouth again. When he pulled away the Lynx felt cold despite the warmth of the evening. He hurried after Tallin, who ducked around the barrels.

Almost by chance Grey noticed the two men in an intimate position on the floor. He blinked at them, then blushed. _I hope they didn’t hear us..._

 “Uh...,” Grey glanced around and his eyes met Tal’s – he looked amused, “Everything okay?”

One of the men, a dark-haired Charasean spat out a “Fine.”

Tallin grabbed Grey’s hand and pulled him back into the inn and the two men outside disappeared from his mind. The red-head strolled calmly to the bar, ignoring the looks they were getting. Grey was blushing, a little embarrassed when he saw people whispering about them – undoubtedly they looked like a bickering couple, especially since they were still holding hands.

***

Grey laid on his side, staring at the wall in the dark room he and Tal had rented in the inn. It was nice, rustic, with wooden floors and walls and a window with a view of the forest outside. They could still hear music and laughter of the people downstairs, but it was relatively peaceful, the only light coming from the little gap at the bottom of the door to the bathroom where Tallin was showering.

Grey heard the water shut off and his heartbeat picked up, hands subconsciously clenching in the pillows. The innkeeper assumed they were a couple; there was only one bed in the room they had gotten... the boys would have to share. Grey couldn’t see himself sleeping any time soon, not with the questions that were piling up in his head. Still, he closed his eyes and pressed his face into the pillow.

He heard Tallin pad to the bed, then felt it dip gently as he sat down. Moments later the covers were insistently tugged out of Grey’s hands as Tallin covered himself. They laid in silence. Grey opened his eyes and stared at the wall.

“I know you’re awake.”

Grey sighed and turned around, wanting to clear the air, but then his breath caught in his throat because _shit_ he forgot that Tallin had taken his girl clothes off. His fiery red hair was still a little damp, hugging his face, and he was shirtless. Stars, he was absolutely gorgeous, pale shoulder peeking from beneath the covers. Grey could feel his tail appear out of nerves as his heart pounded.

“Are you n-naked?” his voice trembled. Tallin blushed.

“No you idiot.”

Grey grabbed his face and kissed him passionately, catching the Prince off-guard. The boy let out a squeak but Grey just needed to kiss him, just _fuck-_

Tallin pressed himself up against the Lynx, quickly catching on. He opened his mouth and allowed the Lynx’s tongue to slide inside as he kissed back just as passionately, just as desperately. Grey wasn’t sure what he was doing – yes, he had kissed people before, but never like this. It was never this intense or intimate, he was never in bed with the person...

Tallin shifted closer to him under the covers and his leg brushed against Grey’s, sending sparks of electricity racing up his spine. He exhaled shakily against the Prince’s mouth. One of his hand was caught between the pillow and Tal’s warm, flushed cheek and with the other he shyly trailed lower, over the swell of Tallin’s shoulder and then down under the covers. He didn’t mean it in a sexual way; he just really, _really_ wanted to touch Tallin more.

The moment Grey’s hand rested in the dip of Tallin’s waist, the boy pushed himself flush against the Lynx and they gasped simultaneously. Grey hadn’t realised he was hard until Tal’s own erection pressed up on him; despite wearing underwear, the Lynx felt the hotness of Tallin’s flesh against his and he shivered in pleasure.

Tallin kissed him harder, suddenly gripping Grey’s face, sucking on his tongue and biting at his bottom lip hungrily, as if he couldn’t get enough. He grinded forward, rubbing his dick against Grey’s and the Lynx grabbed his hips, stilling his movement and breaking the kiss.

Tallin stared at him, flushed and breathless. His brows furrowed and his hands dropped to Grey’s shoulders.

“You don’t want to?” he asked softly, and insecurity laced his words. It wasn’t right; Tal wasn’t insecure, not as long as Grey knew him. But the Lynx needed to know where he was standing.

“Do you like me?” he asked. Tallin rolled his eyes.

“Can we not talk about this _after-“_

“’Cause I like you,” Grey said, blushing. Tallin stopped, then looked away, then tucked a piece of red hair behind his ear. It was so endearing that Grey leaned forward and kissed the boy’s forehead lightly, “I really like you,” he murmured, resting his chin on Tal’s head to avoid looking at him. The Prince gripped his shoulders a little harder.

“Yeah,” he breathed, “I like you too. A lot.”

Relief made Grey sag against the bed and he wrapped his warm, naked arms around Tallin’s shoulders and kissed the top of his head. His hair smelled like apple shampoo.

“I’m really, really glad,” he was getting a little choked up.

“You’re killing the mood,” Tallin grumbled. Grey squeezed him harder, then dove back down to kiss him. This time it was gentler, more secure, warm. Both the boys ended up smiling into the press of their mouths.

“Hey,” Tallin rested their foreheads together, looking all soft and content, “D’you wanna have sex with me?”

Grey knew that one thing would lead to another – he was in bed with someone as gorgeous as Tallin after all – but hearing the object of his affection say it out loud made heat pool in his stomach.

“I’m a virgin,” he said.

“So am I,” Tallin shrugged, “that didn’t answer- _wait,”_ he paused, “ _You’re_ a virgin?”

“Yeah?” Grey frowned, “Why is that surprising?”

Tallin shrugged, “Don’t know...you’re just...,” he shrugged again, nervous, “You’re just really hot. I thought everyone in the village would have jumped your bones by now.”

Grey felt himself blushing harder, “S-Shut up.”

“Hey,” Tallin pouted, “ _I’m_ the one that should be getting shy, not-“

“You’re really beautiful.”

Tallin shut his mouth and went almost as red as his hair, “Shut up!”

Grey grinned, “Who’s getting shy now?”

“Okay,” Tal slapped a hand over his mouth, “Less talking, more making out.” He removed his palm and replaced it with his lips, kissing Grey tentatively.

Soon enough it turned hot and passionate again, with the boys’ tongues fighting for dominance. Grey’s head felt fuzzy and his body burned with arousal, cock completely hard where it lay heavily against Tallin’s own. The redhead moved his hips gently, teasingly dragging his erection over Grey’s. It was hard to think straight and Grey dug his fingers into Tallin’s waist until he decided to be brave and follow his instincts. He reached behind Tallin and grabbed handfuls of his ass, enjoying the gasp he elicited from the boy, before dragging him closer so they were flushed together, cocks wedged between them. That’s when he felt the lace against his fingers, which were still resting on Tallin’s ass.

“What the hell are you wearing?” Grey broke the kiss again but didn’t move his hands. Tal was flushed and out of it.

“Huh?”

“Underwear,” Grey’s said in a hushed whisper, head was spinning, cock throbbing against Tal’s and probably ruining his boxers, “What underwear are you wearing?”

“G-Girl ones, of course,” Tallin grumbled, “I wasn’t going to sleep naked-“

“Can I see?” Grey asked breathlessly and reached for the covers. Tallin caught his hand.

“No!” he seemed appalled.

“We’re going to have sex,” Grey pointed out, then blushed at how loud it sounded in the room.

“S-So?!”

Grey, being the stronger one, managed to rip the covers from Tal’s hands and shove them aside.

“Grey!” the boy squeaked and tried to roll to the side but Grey grabbed his legs and dragged him down the bed, closer to him, gripping his ankles and- his eyes slid over the boy. “Oh my _Gods,”_ Tallin groaned, burying his face in his hands, “This is _so_ embarrassing. If I had known this would happen I would have just taken them off...”

Grey was barely listening, too busy staring. Tallin was happily spread out in front of him, all smooth and naked and pale, and on his slim hips was a pair of lacy red underwear that matched his hair and the blush on his face. The lace laid snuggly against his flat stomach, his hipbones protruding slightly. It was hot, and what made it even more obscene was the fact that Tal’s erection was peeking up above the lacy waistband, pink and hard and dripping precum on his belly-button.

“You...,” Grey’s throat was suddenly dry. His cock twitched and he swallowed, “You look sexy.”

“ _Shut up,”_ Tallin groaned.

Mesmerised, Grey reached out and touched his cock through his underwear. It twitched.

 “Shit,” Grey leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Tal’s chest, forcing the boy’s legs over his shoulders, mouth against his burning skin, trying to control himself. He could hear Tal’s heart pounding against his lips, “Shit, I want you. Fuck, I want you really badly. Now. Like right now. _Shit._ Can I have you right now?” he peeked up at the Prince, barely even aware of the words coming out of his mouth.

“Y-Yeah,” Tallin stuttered, lifting his hands and staring at Grey in shock.

Grey wasn’t even thinking straight. The problems and worries that had bugged his head only hours ago seemed insignificant as he clumsily kissed down Tal’s stomach. He didn’t know what he was doing and was driven purely by his throbbing arousal that was making him light-headed.

“What are you doing?” the boy asked breathily when Grey kissed along the lace of his underwear. He was an inch away from the boy’s erection when he suddenly realised. He jerked upwards and hovered over Tallin, eyes wide. “What?” the redhead blinked.

“You’re a Prince.”

“...Yeah?”

“Oh my stars,” Grey sat back, tail flickering behind him in agitation as his heart pounded, “Oh my stars. I can’t do this.”

“What are you talking about?” Tallin shimmied into a sitting position, hair messy and expression confused.

“You’re a _Prince,_ Tallin, I shouldn’t- I can’t-“

“So you don’t want to fuck me?” Tallin raised an eyebrow.

“No!” Grey felt his lynx ears pop out of his hair, “No, no, I just...,” he was blushing and stuttering all over the place, “It’s just...you’re so special and I’m so...,” his shoulders slumped, “Ordinary.”

Tallin crawled up to him and then right into his lap unceremoniously, naked and just in his pretty panties, looking unimpressed. He was so hot and confident that Grey’s cock leaked a little precum.

“You’re not ordinary,” Tallin slid his arms around the boy’s neck, “You’re awesome.” He kissed Grey.

“Won’t I get arrested for this?” Grey asked quietly, but his arms were already wrapping around Tal’s waist, pulling him closer. The position allowed the Lynx to kiss the other boy’s shoulders, then nuzzle his neck. Tallin giggled.

“You won’t, idiot,” he whispered, and his fingers gently rubbed Grey’s ears. The Lynx jerked, surprised, and then groaned when Tallin started grinding down in the other boy’s lap, “I’ll protect you, pinkie promise,” he teased, then breathed shakily against Grey’s mouth when he kissed him again. Then he kissed his neck, then he slid lower, pulling Grey’s zipper down.

“Hey!” Grey tensed, realised what was happening, “Hey, you don’t have to-“

But it was too late, and Grey’s erection was already out, and Tal’s mouth was on it.

“O-Oh _fuck-,”_ Grey gasped, hand shooting out and sinking into Tal’s soft red hair. His mouth was small and warm, wetly wrapping around the head. Grey exhaled, surprised by the sensation, but before he could even get used to it, Tallin sank lower, taking more of his dick inside his mouth.

The Lynx’s eyes fluttered shut and he carded his fingers through Tal’s hair, “That’s n-nice. That’s r-really nice,” he breathed. Tallin bobbed his head, then tucked a piece of hair behind his ear. Grey opened his eyes and looked down at the boy. His eyelashes were long and downcast, cheeks hollowed as he sucked. Grey didn’t know what was better; the way Tallin looked, heavenly and debauched at the same time, or the way his mouth felt.

Grey flopped backwards against the bed and let out a soft moan, thighs trembling. Fire curled in his stomach as Tal gently licked at the head of the Lynx’s cock. The pleasure flooded through Grey’s body like liquid fire. It just kept intensifying; Tallin swirled his tongue, licked at the underside of Grey’s cock, he was curious and interested, seeing what Grey liked and driving the boy insane until it was hard for him to focus.

Grey’s tail started thumping against the bed and his breath came out harsh, “S-Shit, I’m gonna c-come...,” he shoved Tallin’s head down onto his cock, too hard, pushing his dick down the boy’s tight throat.

Tallin reeled back, spluttering and pulling Grey away from the edge of his orgasm. The Lynx opened his eyes that he hadn’t realised he closed and saw that Tallin was rubbing his throat and glaring at the Vlassain, coughing a little.

“Prick,” he grumbled, voice a little hoarse.

“Shit sorry,” Grey jerked upwards and pulled Tal’s hand from his throat. He kissed it gently, “I’m sorry. It just felt really good.” He mumbled, a little embarassed.

“Okay good,” Tal exhaled and kissed Grey’s mouth, “I had no idea what I was doing.”

Grey smiled at him, pushing aside his own pleasure for a second. He stroked Tallin’s flushed cheeks, “You’re so cute.”

Tallin slapped at his arm, “Idiot. Are you going to fuck me or what?”

The bold question hung in the air between them. The boys stared at each other. Grey swallowed, Tallin looked away as if what he had just said embarrassed him.

“Do you want me to?” Grey asked quietly. Tallin shrugged, then bit his lip, then nodded.

“Yeah,” he mumbled.

Grey couldn’t keep the smile off his face. It was crazy for the Lynx to think that this boy in front of him wanted to be his. This boy, who was showing Grey more and more layers of himself.

“C’mere,” Grey pulled the Prince against him and kissed him passionately.

They flopped onto the bed together, tangled up in each other and still kissing. The smiles were gone, as was the giddy laughter. Instead their lips were moving together, hands gripping each other closer. Grey shimmied out of his trousers, pulling down his underwear with it. He then pulled Tallin’s panties off and kissed his neck. The redhead leaned into him.

“How do we do this?” Grey asked, licking down the boy’s neck.

“I’m gonna have to prepare myself,” Tallin mumbled.

“Want me to do it?” Grey asked.

“No,” Tallin nudged the Lynx away a little and Grey watched, wide-eyed, as the boy sucked his graceful fingers into his mouth.

“Fuck,” Grey dropped his head against Tallin’s shoulder, “Don’t do this to me.”

“Shush,” Tallin said impatiently and pulled him close, kissing him. Tallin reached underneath himself, throwing his legs over Grey’s shoulders. The Lynx watched as the boy sank a finger inside himself. He twitched and looked to the side, a blush rising to his cheeks. Grey watched his face and tried not to focus on his hand moving between his legs because that would make him want to come right there and then.

“You okay?” Grey pushed Tal’s hair from his forehead and kissed it.

“Shut up Grey,” Tallin breathed. He let out a little gasp when he added a second finger inside himself, and it went right down to Grey’s cock. The anticipation was killing him and he had never wanted anything more than to be inside the redhead. The Prince’s fingers dug into Grey’s arm as he prepped himself for agonizingly long minutes.

“So pretty,” Grey murmured, kissing his ear, “You’re so pretty.”

“Fuck this,” Tallin pulled his hand back, “Just do it, okay?” he looked a mess, which was what Grey felt like.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” he agreed feverishly, pressing his forehead against Tallin’s, “B-But we need lubrication-“

“It’s fine,” Tal grumbled, “I’m part Harsonia, I have natural lube.”

“What?” Grey blinked. Tallin rolled his eyes.

“I don’t get the tentacles, just the natural lubrication part.”

Grey was confused because Tal’s dick looked pretty much just like Grey’s, except prettier, “You what? _Tentacles?_ ”

Tallin groaned, “Just _go.”_

“Right,” Grey nodded, “Yeah. Love you.”

He was barely aware of what he was saying as he lined up his wet with precum cock with Tal’s entrance. The Prince didn’t get to reply or even register what Grey said because the Lynx started to push into him.

Tallin’s brows furrowed and his hands gripped the sheets, pulling them closer to him. Grey was going to ask Tal if he was okay, he really was, but _fuck_ it felt so stardamned good to be inside him. Like so, so good. Grey’s eyes fell shut and his fingers gripped the Prince’s hips. All he could focus on was the tight, burning heat that his cock was sinking into.

Finally, after a blissful eternity, his erection was perfectly sheathed inside the other boy. It felt heavenly.

He opened his eyes and saw Tallin’s tearful expression and his heart fell.

“Shit,” Grey breathed, “S-Shit are you-“

“Shut-,” Tal couldn’t finish the sentence, squeezing his eyes shut. Grey showered his face in kisses and hugged him close.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologising.”

“I’m hurting you, aren’t I?” the Lynx murmured, kissing Tallin’s hair and forehead. The Prince reached up and petted his ear fondly.

“I’m fine,” he was smiling, the tears gone, “I just need a minute.”

Grey frowned and looked at him before nudging his nose against the redhead’s, “I love you,” he whispered, needing to get it off his chest properly. He didn’t expect  it to make Tal react in the way he did; the boy melted against the bed, his tight hole relaxing a little around the Lynx’s cock.

“You can move now I think,” Tal replied hoarsely. Grey snorted.

“Say it back, you asshole.”

The Prince pulled him down for a kiss, “Yeah I love you too.”

Grey gently pulled his hard cock out of the redhead and then carefully rocked it back inside him. They both exhaled shakily and Tal winced a little, but he didn’t ask Grey to stop and honestly the Lynx couldn’t bear to ask because it felt too good. His breath was coming out hard and he had to let go of Tallin’s hips to rest his hands on either side of the boy’s head to keep himself propped up.

Tallin wrapped his legs around Grey’s waist, thighs trembling.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” the redhead breathed, “Just hurts a little,” he cracked his eyes open, “How i-is it for you?”

“Good,” Grey replied breathlessly, “Stars, you feel amazing.”

Tallin cracked a grin, “Glad t-to hear it- _ah...,”_ he squeezed his eyes shut again and bit his lip.

“W-What?” Grey frowned. The redhead shook his head viciously.

“N-Nothing,” he whimpered, “Just go.”

Grey continued to shallowly thrust into him, ensuring he wasn’t hurting the Prince. When Tal looked more relaxed he started sliding in deeper, then going a bit harder and faster. Soon enough he had established a good pace that provided the most delicious friction for his cock, and made Tal’s shoulders tremble and occasional tiny moans escape his mouth.

It was intimate, dark, quiet. Somehow the Prince’s harsh breaths and fingers clenching in the sheets were more arousing to the Lynx than if he was screaming with pleasure. Grey couldn’t stop looking at him and pretty quickly he couldn’t stop touching the boy. When he established a good rhythm and his thrusts got more confident, his hands started to wander.

He cupped Tal’s cheeks, squeezed his hips, trailed his fingers down his chest, stroked his pretty cock lazily. Tallin watched him, cheeks red and eyes half-closed. They didn’t speak but the air between them fizzled with electricity and every time Grey pushed back into the Prince he felt pleasure crawling up his spine, easing him closer to the edge. They went at it for a while, until finally Grey thrust in particularly hard.

“ _Fuck!”_ Tallin’s back arched off the bed, throwing Grey off-guard, and his cock spurted a bit of pre-come onto his stomach.

“What?!” the Lynx panicked. Tallin was breathing hard.

“I...shit,” he settled back against the bed and stared at Grey in shock, “That felt...,” he shook his head as if it was hard for him to concentrate, “J-Just keep going.”

So Grey did, repeating what he did before. His thrusts grew harder and faster and whines started to spill from Tallin’s mouth. Grey was completely mesmerised by him, his flushed shoulders, his trembling muscles in stomach. The Prince’s hand wrapped around his own erection and he started to stroke himself with jerky movements, eyes closed, gasping.

Grey’s tail swished behind him and his ears twitched. He knew he was close to coming with the wonderful way Tallin’s body was squeezing him. His hips stuttered, his thrusts got sloppier.

“ _Grey,”_ Tallin gasped, “Shit...,” he started to jerk himself off faster and then he was coming right below Grey, dripping come all over his perfect abdomen.

“Fuck,” Grey swore, fingers digging into Tal’s thighs. He thrust in hard, sloppy, desperately chasing his own release. His orgasm washed over him moments later and he dropped his forehead against Tallin’s shoulder, clutching the boy close, afraid he’d disappear.

The intensity of the moment ebbed away, replaced by a bone-numbing, gentle pleasure. It took all the strength Grey had to pull himself up into a sitting position; his ears and tail retracted. Tallin laid on the bed, panting for air and sweaty. Grey reached out and pushed his wet hair from his forehead, causing Tallin to open his piercing eyes.

They looked at each other, silent. Grey didn’t know what to say. This whole thing seemed surreal to him.

“So,” the Lynx cleared his throat, “You get to go home now...right?”

Tallin shot up and whacked Grey on the shoulder, startling the Vlassain, “Ouch! What was that for?!”

“Are you serious?!” the Prince looked pissed, “Are you _actually_ fucking serious?!”

Grey was very _very_ confused, “Huh?” he looked around their dark bedroom to ensure Tal was definitely talking to him.

“We just had sex!” the Prince exclaimed, arms flailing, “You just fucked me!”

Grey flushed, “Y-Yeah, I know...”

Tal’s shoulders slumped, “Do you think this is some stupid movie?” he asked, “That I’m going to run off back to my home planet, and then you’ll chase after me and all that?”

“W-What?”

Tallin groaned, “ _Gods,_ Grey. Why are you so oblivious sometimes?” he shook his head, red hair falling back into his eyes. He sighed, “I want...,” he bit his lip and looked away. By now Grey figured out that the Prince wasn’t very good with articulating what he needed, or wanted, “I want to know more about you,” he managed eventually, voice tight, “I want to cuddle right now. I want you to hold me. I want to go for round two. I want to know about why you sometimes have ears and a tail and sometimes not-“

“That’s because-“

“Shut up,” Tal snapped, “Just l-let me talk,” he dropped his gaze again, pale cheeks burning, “I just...I feel like...I...,” he shook his head and sighed in frustration, looking up at the ceiling, “Never mind.”

“I love you,” Grey said gently. Tal looked at him uncertainly. Grey shrugged, “I do. I thought that it was weird that I loved you when you were a girl because I like boys. I loved you then but I wasn’t _attracted_ to you and now...now I’m kind of both and...yeah,” he finished lamely.

A tiny, shy smile appeared on Tal’s face, “Do you mean that?”

Grey nodded. Tal crawled into his lap and hugged him tightly. It was kind of cute and kind of gross since the boy was soaked in come and sweat but Grey didn’t mind all that much. He hugged him back.

“We should call room service,” Tal said, voice tight. Grey smiled fondly.

“I don’t think they have that sort of thing here.”

**11 th Aodh 1180 (The next day)**

**Rum.**

Aros was on his smoke break, perched on the low stone wall at the back of the club, right next to the dumpsters. He was feeling downright miserable with the rain dribbling down on him like an amused toddler, and the grey, smoky skies broken by constant, harsh lights from landing ships. Fuck, he hated this planet, and more than that he hated this stardamned club.

“Fuck’s sake,” he whispered under his breath, finishing his cigarette and stubbing it on the wall before reaching for the next one. He realised that ever since he had slept with Kai three days ago he had started smoking more. “That fucking Shapeshifter,” Aro grumbled, lighting his cigarette and exhaling a mouthful of smoke that only added to the pollution of his planet.

He didn’t know what to do. If he knew that sleeping with Kai would just serve to confuse his emotions more...well, he would have done it anyway probably, because it had been absolutely amazing.

Except instead of allowing Aros to win the little power-struggle that had been going on between him and the dancer for years, he had just ended up melting. He hadn’t wanted to leave that bed, or to leave Kai. He wanted to make everything okay for him but he didn’t even know where to start...stars knew how many people Kaio had slept with in the past three days; to him Aro probably hadn’t been anything special, though it was hard to believe that considering Kai had cried, and clung onto Aro like that...

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” the guard dragged a hand down his face. He didn’t know what to do, what to say to Kai. He didn’t love him, that was too straightforward. But he wanted to steal the boy away from this traumatising place and bicker with him until they both died.

“Aros. Hello.”

The voice behind Aro was so sudden that the guard dropped his cigarette. He swore quietly and stood, turning around. He found himself facing Sahachi. The Alpha looked tired, dark circles underneath his wise eyes. He was tall and muscular, though not as tall or muscular as Aros.

“Sahachi,” the guard said, unable to hold back the bitterness in his voice. He had hated Chi for as long as he could remember, though he wasn’t really sure why. No, that was a lie. He knew why; it was because Kai had a secret though painfully crush on the Charasean, which infuriated Aro. Jealousy was an ugly emotion, “What do you want?”

“Polite as always,” Sahachi said stiffly.

“I don’t particularly want to waste my break talking to you so-,” Aros broke off suddenly. Guilt flooded him because he remembered Quetta; she had jumped out of a window three days ago. Not that it made Tuvian so much as give the other dancers a day to grieve. Simultaneously Cavi was getting worse. Aros cleared his throat, “Sorry,” he said, and Chi dropped his eyes, “Can I...uh...is there anything-“

“Have you seen Kai since yesterday?” Sahachi shoved his hands into the pockets of the oversized sweater he was wearing, and looked directly at Aro.

“No,” dread calmly curled in the guard’s chest, “Why?”

Chi’s shoulders slumped and he rubbed his chin with one of his hands, “Shit.”

Aros had never heard the dancer swear, “What happened?”

“You haven’t heard?” Chi raised an eyebrow, “I thought, seeing as you’re Tuvian’s lapdog-“

“I’m not,” Aro growled. Chi shook his head.

“Kai’s gone missing, nobody’s seen him since early this morning and his shift’s coming up.”

Aros shrugged, “He’s run before. I don’t know where your little boyfriend is.”

“For stars sake, Aros!” Sahachi exploded, eyes flaring, “For once in your life can you put your jealousy aside and not be so fucking selfish?!” Aro was taken aback by the outburst – normally Chi was calm and collected..., “Tuvian’s selling him off.”

“ _What?!”_ Aro’s heart dropped.

“Yeah,” Chi laughed bitterly, “Some Wurund wants to buy him. Mr T wanted to wipe Kai’s memory first, because it’s what that Wurund wanted, but he was turned down by one company. He’s now looking for another one, but Kai’s disappeared and...,” he shrugged, “Kalana told me you slept with him. I thought maybe you two were...”

Aros was lost for words. Kai was missing. First he slept with Aro, which wasn’t good, then he found out about the suicide of his best friend, and finally he was told his memories would be wiped and he’d be sold off as a sex slave. Stars, the kid must’ve been in pieces. Aro’s heart twisted.

“I-I...,” he didn’t know where to start. He remembered how warm Kai had been in his arms just a few short nights ago. Aro should have never let him go, “I haven’t seen him in a few days.”

Sahachi nodded, “Right. Well...he’s not in the _Fragments,_ and not in his usual spots. So...if you see him...,” he shrugged, dejected, then disappeared back into the club.

Aros looked up at the club and exhaled. He could see the window of the Golds bedroom where Quetta had jumped from. Aro had liked her, a lot. His heart ached for the girl. It also ached for Kai. _I need to find him._ He knew he wouldn’t be going back in for his shift tonight, he was too riled up. He wrecked his brain for where Kai might be; Chi had said he wasn’t in the usual places, so the nearby dingy bars and clubs that Aro had dragged him out of previously, then where could he be?

Kai was a complicated person. A _really_ complicated person.

 _I don’t really spend much time thinking about where you live._ The image of Kai sitting on Aros’ beat up couch flashed in the Ishait’s mind and he froze. Why was that important? He remembered the way the boy had looked, so soft and relaxed, not high-strung like he usually did. He looked...comfortable.

And all of a sudden, Aros knew where he was. Or at least he hoped the boy would be there.

***

Aros was shocked to find that his door was unlocked. He was out of breath and a little flushed because he had ran practically all the way to his flat and up the stairs. His heart jerked in his chest with hope and he shoved the door open.

The living room-kitchen area was empty. Aro’s shoulders dropped with dejection and he shoved the door closed, ensuring it was locked this time. The living room was dark and exactly the way Aro had left it.

“Kai?” the man called half-heartedly. There was no response. _Maybe...maybe..._ the guard crept towards his bedroom door. It was shut. Aro opened it slowly.

His bedroom was dark and messy, the way it had been earlier that evening when he left for his shift. There were clothes strewn over the floor and neon blue light spilled through the blinds from the fast food restaurant next door.

And on the king sized bed was a lump, covered in Aros’ black, silky sheets. The guard’s heart started to pound viscously and he walked up to the bed, sitting down on the edge. He carefully peeled back the sheets.

Kaio looked at him, eyes droopy and dark, hair messy. Aro couldn’t help but feel relief at finding the boy. But something was wrong.

“Heyyyy,” Kai slurred, his eyes unfocused. He offered Aro a little smile, which was weird because he never smiled at Aro, “You did’t lock ya door. ‘m glad,” he closed his eyes again, “was cold outside.”

“Why are you here, Kai?” Aro asked, voice gentle. He couldn’t bring himself to be angry at Kai for breaking in, not when the boy was looking so soft and relaxed and in one piece.

“Thought...,” he frowned as if getting the words out was hard, “t-thought you’d be back...laterrr...”

“Are you drunk?” Aros frowned.

Kai opened his eyes and smiled wider, “No...better.”

“Better?” Aros scooted closer and pressed his hand to the boy’s forehead. It was burning up, “What did you take?” he demanded, angrier. Kai shifted away from his hand.

“Keleo.”

“What?!” Aros demanded, and then jerked Kai into a sitting position. The boy slumped against him, head lolling as if keeping himself up was too much effort. “Fuck,” Aro growled, “Fuck, how much did you take?!”

“I wanna die,” Kai whispered with a soft, sad smile. It felt as if someone was squeezing Aros’ heart so hard that it hurt. Without even thinking about it he dragged Kai’s limp body into his arms and hugged him fiercely.

“Hey,” his voice was hoarse. _Shit. Shit. Shit._ He had no idea how much Kai had taken, “You’re going to be okay.” Was he overdosing right now? He seemed pretty out of it? What if he was dying? There were no hospitals on Rum, nowhere to go.

“Hey!” Aros said more insistently since Kai wasn’t replying. He grabbed Kai’s chin in his hand and forced the boy to look at him. The boy’s baby blues focused at him, which was a good sign. Then the colour flickered; brown, grey, green..., “Hey,” Aro repeated more gently and pressed his forehead against Kai’s. It was sticky with sweat, “No Shapeshifting. I’m gonna taken care of you, okay?”

Somehow Kai managed to nod. Aro threw him over his shoulder and then headed straight for the bathroom. The room was dingy, the bathtub an old model, and the light was too harsh. Kai groaned when Aros turned it on but that didn’t deter the Ishait as he dumped the boy’s body on the floor unceremoniously. He turned on the tap and the tub started to fill with warm water.

The hum of the boiler filled the room. Aros reached for Kai’s t-shirt, pulling it over his head and tossing it aside. The bruises and kiss-marks Aro had left on him days ago hadn’t faded completely, and the sight of them just reminded Aros how good it felt to hold him. But there were other marks too, marks clients had left...Aros slid off the dancer’s trousers, his underwear and socks. Kai didn’t put up a fight, just looked at Aros sleepily.

“Stay with me, alright?” Aro asked, and gently picked the boy up, setting him down in the warm water. Kai’s head slumped against the edge and his eyes fluttered shut.

“Alright.” He mumbled.

Aros exhaled. It was going to be okay. Kai opened his eyes; clarity was slowly returning to his face.

“How long have you been here?” Aro asked, sitting on the floor by the tub and watching as Kai’s hair began to curl because of the warm water. The room filled with steam.

“All day,” Kai mumbled, “I just...slept...in your bed. Smells nice.”

Aros reached out and touched his cheek lightly before snatching his hand back, “You scared me. You scared Chi.”

“I want to jump,” Kai whispered, catching Aros off guard, “Wanted,” Kaio modified, “Like...her. But ‘am not brave enough. I thought the keleo would h...elp,” he hiccupped, then his eyes filled with tears, “I-I don’t want to...do...this...anymore. I-I _can’t._ I don’t want i-it...to...hurt...anymore.”

Aros didn’t know what to say. Kai reached out as if to hit him but his hand flopped uselessly into the water.

“You should have...given her...the keleo,” a tear rolled down his cheek, then another, “maybe t-then she wouldn’t...have...”

“I gave her the keleo,” Aros whispered, “It wasn’t enough.”

Kai started crying softly. His shoulders trembled, his hair started to flicker a multitude of colours. Then he leaned over the edge of the bath and vomited onto Aro’s floor.

“S-Shit,” he was trembling violently, “S-Sorry.” He was a mess.

“No. It’s okay. Throwing up is good, means your body is rejecting the drugs.”

Aros stood up and cleaned the floor. He never thought he’d be doing that; cleaning up Kai’s vomit while the boy sat drugged up in his bath-tub. When Aros finished with the floor he moved onto Kai. He scrubbed his back and then lathered up his hair with the cheap shampoo he used on his own one, then pulled Kai out of the tub and drained the water. By the time he was towelling Kai dry the boy looked better.

“Hungry?” Aro asked, pulling one of his own t-shirts over the dancer’s head. Kai shook his head.

“No,” he mumbled.

“Tired?”

Kai nodded.

“Tired as in _tired,_ or tired as in you think you’ll pass out and never wake up tired?”

Kai smiled dopily, “First.”

“Okay, good.”

Aros walked the boy back to the bedroom and Kai was more than happy to collapse on the bed. He crawled back under the sheets. Aros looked down at him and sighed.

“What am I supposed to do with you?” he asked, more to himself than Kai. He stripped to his boxers and climbed into the bed behind the dancer. Kaio didn’t seem to care, turning around to face the guard.

He kissed him on the mouth, “Thanks,” he slurred.

“Just don’t make this a habit,” Aros pushed Kai’s hair from his forehead. He didn’t have the strength to argue or shout at the boy, not now anyway. He’d do that in the morning when the dancer was completely sober.

Kai closed his eyes, “All I ever feel...is miserable...”

Aros smoothed down his hair, “I know,” he mumbled, even though he _didn’t_ know. Not really. He had never been gentle or tender with the dancer before, when he should have been.

“You made me feel happy. A little. When you fucked me.”

“I made you cry.”

Kai grinned, eyes closed, “’Cause I was happy.” He frowned into Aro’s collarbone, “Sorry for calling you ugly. You’re not.”

Aros snickered, “Sorry for calling you  a whore. You’re not.”

Kai kissed him again, and that seemed to take a lot of effort, “I am.”

“You’re not,” Aro murmured, “How many people you’ve slept with have you actually _wanted_ to fuck?”

Kaio opened his sleepy, pretty eyes, “Just one. You.”

Aro’s heart clenched, “I-...I...”

“Shhh, don’t take it personal,” Kai patted his arm weakly. He frowned, “Hey,” he said softly.

“Hmmm?”

“Can I stay here? ‘don’t wanna go back.”

Aro’s heart clenched. It was impossible – sooner or later Tuvian would find the boy.

“I don’t think so,” the guard replied. Pain flickered in Kai’s tired eyes.

“But...,” he bit his lip, “I could change into anyone you wanted,” his hair grew, his skin darkened, and just like that he was a pretty, alluring Ishait woman. He looked at Aro, “I could be anyone you wanted.”

“I just want you to be yourself, idiot,” Aros replied, frustrated.

Kaio returned to his normal appearance but the shift must have exhausted him because his eyes started to close. He turned over with some difficulty, his back to the guard. Aro hugged him carefully but he didn’t sleep, ensuring the boy was breathing throughout the night.

**20 th Aodh 1180 (9 days later)**

**_The Mnemosyne._ **

Fynley woke up to his hair being stroked again. He pretended to sleep some more, subconsciously leaning into the warmth of the hand. _Don’t ever stop touching me,_ he thought. He heard Nav huff out a fond laugh under his breath when Fynley nuzzled his hand. It has been almost two months since the two of them had met, and the Captain had grown more and more affectionate with the janitor...when the latter was unconscious. Navan was rarely touchy-feely with Fynley when the boy was awake, undoubtedly scared of leading him on since Fyn was sure the Captain knew about his feelings since that kiss...

Nav’s hand abandoned Fyn’s overgrown hair in order to rest on the boy’s shoulder. The Captain’s warmth seeped through the material of Fyn’s cotton t-shirt and the boy shivered. He felt hyper-aware of the man’s touch now that he was awake. It felt good.

Nav carefully and slowly slipped just his thumb under the edge of Fyn’s sleeve and touched his skin directly, feather-light. Fynley let out a little breath. He could feel Navan, so close to him, free arm underneath Fyn’s head, body inches away. The clone wanted to press himself up against the Captain and touch his properly but he would never have enough courage to do that.

Suddenly the gentle hand was gone and instead Fynley was being roughly shaken awake. It startled him so badly he sat up, eyes wide.

“What?” he gasped. Navan grinned at him, as shirtless and gorgeous as every ‘morning.’

“Nothing,” the man said, eyes softening when he looked at Fyn, making the boy’s heart skip a beat. He pointed at his huge cabin window, “We’re here.”

Fyn’s stomach dropped. Outside, apart from the familiar, dark galaxy, he saw the planet he dreaded the most. _The Mnemosyne_ was slowly entering the atmosphere of Earth 6.2. The familiar planet swirled with white clouds and shimmered blue. Fynley stood up and turned away from Nav.

“I’m going to shower before my shift,” he picked up his overalls from the floor.

“Hey,” Nav said and when Fyn turned the man looked concerned, “I don’t know what it is, but I know you don’t like being here. But it’s alright, we’re just doing one quick job and we’ll be out, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Fyn forced a smile and tried to smooth his hair down over his face, “I’ll see you tonight,” he slipped from the room, half-pulling on his overalls. He hurried down the corridors towards his cabin, trying to avoid looking out of the windows.

He had two options once the ship touched down, options he had been mulling in the past days since he found out where the next job was; he could stay on-board and clean and mind his own business and do his job until the wiping was done and they could leave again, or he could end it once and for all. The memories of what happened to him on Earth haunted him every day, crippled him even. He couldn’t function properly knowing what that man did to him and he still lacked so many answers – like who was Tarlo, and why was Fyn his clone?

Fynley knew what he had to do, but he was a coward.

***

Breathing in the air of the port made Fyn feel like he had never left. It was all like that day that Wien had found him, except it was sunset. There were hundreds of ships in the dock with different crews mingling together, passing boxes and packages to each other and standing around smoking. It smelled like fuel and unwashed bodies and Fyn felt oppressed by the pink and amber sky overhead. He wanted to crawl back onto the _Mnemosyne,_ but he knew he didn’t have time to psych himself up a second time – it had already taken him twenty minutes since they landed to even step out of the ship and the client would be on-board any minute; Fyn didn’t have a lot of time.

He took a deep breath and pulled down the hood of his cloak further over his face before hurrying down the closest dimly lit alleyway. He knew where the house was. When he had seen it last it was surrounded by police tape and boarded up as they looked for evidence of the crime committed inside. Fyn had watched from the shadows as they brought of memory disks, furniture, clothes, and eventually the bones of a once alive boy with blond hair and the same face as Fyn.

They hadn’t found the clone or its creator like they had planned. Remembering that day, and all the days before that, made Fyn want to cry. No, it made him want to crawl into Nav’s bed, because Nav’s bed meant safety.

 _Just for once,_ Fyn squeezed his eyes and leaned against the smelly alley wall, _Just for once do the right thing. Finish it._ Fyn wanted to be happy but he couldn’t with the memories of what that man had done to him and Tarlo still stuck in his head. He had never met the original, but he needed to close this chapter of his life.

Fyn walked for a few minutes through mazes of alleys and houses. There were pubs open, restaurants and shops. Families walked by, couples. So many people who hadn’t realised what was happening just next door to them.

Finally he arrived in front of the building that still appeared in his nightmares. He had been shocked to know that his prison had looked so mundane from the outside when he had first saw it, neatly standing between two houses built from the same dark red brick. The windows were empty and dark now, the house stood hollow, the police gone. They had taken what they needed and left the rest to rot.

Taking a deep breath and fighting his panic, Fynley walked up to the front door and with a trembling hand pushed it open. Nobody noticed him, but suddenly, as the shadowy entry way of the house was revealed to him, he wished he wasn’t alone. He wished Navan was with him, telling him he would be alright.

Fyn crept into the house. It was all the same way it had been when he had escaped, the furniture covered in dust. He remembered that day. The dull monotony of the room his captor had kept him in was disturbed when the man had burst in. Instead of just climbing on top of Fynley and hurting him the way he usually did, he unchained the boy from the wall and pulled him to the door, hysterical and panicked.

The police had kicked the door down. It was dark, there were smoke bombs. Fyn had barely thought straight but he scrambled up to the first floor, away from the chaos, and made it out of the window. But he remembered this entry way, when it had been filled with shouting and smoke that scratched at his throat until he couldn’t breathe. The boy shuddered.

He took two more steps in and felt a wave of nausea. He didn’t want to lean against anything, didn’t want to touch anything. This had been his house of horrors. Tears welled up in his eyes. _Fuck._ Why was he here? This wasn’t fixing anything. Tarlo was still dead. He was still a clone. A sob bubbled in his throat. This was the house in which he was created, and in which he was destroyed. He didn’t have a name, his face wasn’t his. This house was where Tarlo – whoever he had been – had been killed by the same man who then cloned him. Killing one boy wasn’t enough for him; his sick love had extended enough that he couldn’t bear to lose his pretty little prisoner, so he cloned him.

Fyn’s head spun.

“Tarlo?” the soft whisper came from the shadows of the house and freezing panic stabilised Fyn’s world again. He saw a figure move and his blood froze, “Tarlo, have you come back to me?”

Fynley turned on his heel and bolted from the house and out into the street. He threw himself at the alley he had come down, panting hysterical. Blind with panic he ran, as far away from that cursed house as he could.

Not fast enough. He could see the port, the ships taking off, when suddenly a cold hand closed over his wrists, jerking him backwards. He slammed into the wall of the alleyway, head ringing, and was twisted around.

And he was there, like something out of a nightmare. Rohan Alif leaning over him, eyes wide and crazed. The old man looked the same as the day Fyn had seen him last – deathly pale, grey hair slicked back, teeth bared in a grotesque smile.

“ _Tarlo,”_ he purred, pressing Fynley into the wall. He couldn’t get out, couldn’t get to the port.

“No,” he sobbed as the oppressive smell of the man filtered in. Fyn cringed away from him when the old man tried to kiss him, “N-No, let go, p-please not again-“

“Shhhh,” Rohan licked his cheek and giggled hysterically, “You’re back with me now, Tarlo, we’re back together. Shhh, don’t cry my sweets, I won’t let them take you away. I knew you’d come back, I waited...”

“N-No,” Fyn squeezed his eyes shut and tried to wriggle free but he was too weak, “N-No, please...,” he was imagining it, it wasn’t real, it wasn’t real...

“Insolent boy!” Rohan roared and slapped him in the face. Fyn barely felt the pain, crumbling to the ground. He tried to crawl away but Rohan lifted him again by the throat. His eyes were enraged, “Did you forget you belong to me?!”

There were warm, strong arms wrapping around Fyn’s middle and jerking him out of the surprised Rohan’s hands. Just like that Navan was there, pulling Fyn out of the reach of the monster and putting him behind his own body. Fyn was shaking, sobbing, trying to understand what was happening – and then he realised. They were at the edge of the alley, the people from the port could see them. They looked shocked and horrified – someone was calling the police. The crew of the _Mnemosyne_ were behind Fyn. The clone cowered in fear, hugging himself. Nav had seen, he had saved him...

“That boy is mine,” Rohan growled, glaring at Navan and not understanding that he had lost.

“No, he’s not,” the Captain replied firmly. His back was to Fyn but one of his hands was holding the boy’s arm to ensure he was there. Fynley’s own hands scrambled at Navan’s, gripping it tight as he hugged himself to the man’s back. He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed in Navan’s smell, pretending that none of this was happening.

“I won’t lose you again, Tarlo,” Rohan cooed softly, sickly sweet. Fyn shuddered and a whimper escaped his mouth.

“His name is not Tarlo!” Navan barked, “It’s Fynley, and he’s not yours.”

“Oi, police,” a voice said. A hand pulled him away from Nav.

“No!” Fyn gasped, trying to struggle kid. But it was just Wien, looking at him kindly.

“Relax, kiddo,” he said gruffly, “We need to go.”

Fyn was still breathing shallowly but he didn’t fight the man. Wien had been the one who saved him the first time around.

“Freeze!” the voices came from the alley, from behind the monster, “Rohan Alif you are under arrest for kidnapping, evading the law, paedophilia, murder and cloning.”

Fyn’s heart dropped.

“Come on!” Wien dragged him towards the _Mnemosyne_ where the rest of the crew were piling up hurriedly – it looked like Fyn wasn’t the only one that had to run from police.

The moment he was back on the ship he slumped against the wall. The engines roared and the door slid shut; whoever was piloting didn’t care that police were running after the ship and shouting.

“Phew!” Fryva laughed, surrounded by the crew, “That was close.”

Fynley burst into tears, burying his face in his hands as he sobbed. He couldn’t do this. He wanted to disappear. He hadn’t thought he’d see that man again and now...

“Hey, kid-,” Wien started.

“It’s alright,” that was Navan’s voice, calm and warm, “All of you get back to work, I’ll handle this.”

Fyn heard footsteps heading away over the pounding in his head but he couldn’t react. Then Nav was pulling his hands away from his wet, red face.

“Shhh,” the Captain’s voice was soothing, spreading warmth through Fyn’s chest like a warm cup of tea. He looked dangerous; Ishait eyes, dark purple hair, piercings and his long trench-coat. He was tall, and big, and Fyn wasn’t scared of him in the slightest.

“I’m sorry,” he managed to choke out.

“No, don’t be,” Navan pulled him into a gentle hug, enveloping him in his big arms, “You’re okay now. I’m sorry. I didn’t know that...if I had known I wouldn’t have come here,” he hugged Fyn tighter. The boy buried his face in the Captain’s shoulder and tried to catch his breath. _Don’t panic, it’s over._ He closed his eyes, “I’m sorry he hurt you,” Navan stroked Fyn’s hair comfortingly, “I’ll protect you from now on, I promise.”

“I-I need a shower,” Fyn whispered, skin crawling.

“Okay,” Navan stepped away but Fynley grabbed his hand. The thought of being alone made him feel sick.

“Please don’t leave me,” he said pathetically. Navan smiled gently, but didn’t let go of Fynley’s hand.


End file.
